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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Astron. Space Sci.
Sec. Space Physics
Volume 11 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fspas.2024.1422164
This article is part of the Research Topic Space weather: Magnetosphere Ionosphere Thermosphere (M-I-T) Coupling View all 5 articles

Exploring the relationship between STEVE and SAID during three events observed by SuperDARN

Provisionally accepted
Eduardo Perez Macho Eduardo Perez Macho 1*William Bristow William Bristow 1Bea Gallardo-Lacourt Bea Gallardo-Lacourt 2,3Simon Shepherd Simon Shepherd 4J Michael Ruohoniemi J Michael Ruohoniemi 5Emilia Correia Emilia Correia 6,7
  • 1 The Pennsylvania State University (PSU), University Park, United States
  • 2 Goddard Space Flight Center, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Greenbelt, Maryland, United States
  • 3 Department of Physics, School of Arts and Sciences, The Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C., District of Columbia, United States
  • 4 Thayer School of Engineering, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, United States
  • 5 Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia, United States
  • 6 Escola de Engenharia, CRAAM, Universidade Presbiteriana Mackenzie, SAO PAULO, Brazil
  • 7 National Institute of Space Research (INPE), SĂŁo JosĂ© dos Campos, SĂŁo Paulo, Brazil

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The phenomenon known as Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancement (STEVE) is a narrow optical structure that may extend longitudinally for thousands of kilometers. Initially observed by amateur photographers, it has recently garnered researchers’ attention. STEVE has been associated with a rapid westward flow of ions in the ionosphere, known as subauroral ion drift (SAID). In this work, we investigate three occurrences of STEVE, using data from one of the Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms (THEMIS) ground-based all sky imager (ASI) located at Pinawa, Manitoba, and from the Super Dual Auroral Radar Network (SuperDARN). This approach allows us to verify the correlation between STEVE and SAID, as well as analyze the temporal variation of SAID observed during STEVE events. Our results suggest that the SAID activity starts before STEVE, and the magnitude of the westward flow decreases as STEVE progresses towards the end of its optical manifestation.

    Keywords: SuperDARN, Steve, Said, Ionosphere, aurora

    Received: 23 Apr 2024; Accepted: 20 Jun 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Perez Macho, Bristow, Gallardo-Lacourt, Shepherd, Ruohoniemi and Correia. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Eduardo Perez Macho, The Pennsylvania State University (PSU), University Park, United States

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