A statistical study of the O <sub>2</sub> atmospheric band aurora observed by the Swedish satellite MATS
Abstract. This study conducts a statistical analysis of the aurora observed by the Swedish satellite MATS. MATS' main instrument is a telescope that performs limb imaging at six different wavelength intervals, among them the 762 nm wavelength emission in the O2 atmospheric band. This emission, even though it can not be observed from the ground, is important at mesosphere/lower thermosphere altitudes for both atmospheric airglow and aurora. Here, some auroral properties of this emission, such as peak altitude, geomagnetic location, and auroral intensity, are examined and compared to the SME and Kp geomagnetic indices. A total of 378 events are analyzed. An average geomagnetic latitude of 67.7° is found in both hemispheres, and an average peak altitude of 103 km is obtained. The peak altitude shows dependence on the magnetic local time. Auroral intensities of the order of 102–103 kR are observed.
Authors
- Björn Linder (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-7558-5373)
- Nickolay Ivchenko (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2422-5426)
- Linda Megner (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8016-1343)
- Judit Pérez‐Coll Jiménez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1801-5847)
- Jonas Hedin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5338-1538)
- Lukas Krasauskas (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3534-4535)
- D. Murtagh (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1539-3559)
- J. Gumbel (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4645-4601)
- Ceona Lindstein
Institutions
- Stockholm University (SE)
- Chalmers University of Technology (SE)
- KTH Royal Institute of Technology (SE)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Annales Geophysicae
- Published
- 2025-11-14
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-43-701-2025
- Primary Topic
- Ionosphere and magnetosphere dynamics
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- Swedish National Space Agency
- Svenska Forskningsrådet Formas
- Vetenskapsrådet