Joint SuperDARN and VIS Observations of Ionospheric Flows and Auroral Forms During a Magnetospheric Substorm

M.LESTER (1), N.J. FOX (2), J.B. SIGWARTH (3), S.E. MILAN (1) and K.A. MacWILLIAMS (1)
(1) University of Leicester, U.K.
(2) NASA/GSFC U.S.A.
(3) The University of Iowa, U.S.A.

The behaviour of ionospheric flows during substorms continues to be a topic of considerable importance. Observations at the time of expansion phase onset have suggested that there is limited evidence for ionospheric flow initiated by reconnection in the tail. It is clear, however, that the flow is severely perturbed by the enhanced ionospheric conductivity caused by particle precipitation into the E-region. In this paper we utilise the global nature of the SuperDARN radars and the Visible Imaging System (VIS) on board the Polar spacecraft to investigate the flow and conductivity relationship on a large scale basis. The study includes the behaviour of the flows at expansion phase onset as well as during the late expansion and recovery phases.

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