We measured the height of green and blue aurorae using thousands of camera images recorded over a 7-year period. Both colours are typically brightest at about 114 km altitude. When they peak at higher altitudes the blue aurora is usually higher than the green aurora. This information will help other studies which need an estimate of the auroral height. We used a computer model to explain our observations and to investigate how the green aurora is produced.

We have examined events during which the measured magnetic field on the ground changes very rapidly, causing a risk to technological conductor networks. According to our results, such events occur when strong electric currents in the ionosphere at 100 km altitude are abruptly modified by sudden compression or expansion of the magnetospheric magnetic field farther in space.

We study how the polar regions of the Earth connect to space along magnetic field lines. While the Earth's magnetic field is mostly the shape of a dipole, at high latitudes the field lines tend to be open and connect to interplanetary space. This area of open field line is called the polar cap, and it is highly dynamic. Through data analysis and computer simulations, we find that the shape of the polar cap is closely controlled by the magnetic field embedded in the solar wind.

The study of some ionospheric events benefit from the knowledge of how the physics varies over a volume and over time. Examples are studies of aurora or energy deposition. With EISCAT3D, measurements of ion velocity vectors in a volume will be possible for the first time. We present a technique that uses a set of such measurements to estimate electric field and neutral wind. The technique relies on adding restrictions to the estimates. We successfully consider restrictions based on physics.

Collisional fragmentation of asteroids, comets and meteoroids is the main source of dust in the solar system. The dust distribution is however uncharted and the role of dust in the solar system is largely unknown. At present, the interplanetary medium is explored by the Solar Orbiter spacecraft. We present a novel method, based on artificial intelligence, that can be used for detecting dust impacts in Solar Orbiter observations with high accuracy, advancing the study of dust in the solar system.

Magnetopause is a shielding boundary of planetary magnetic field. Many mathematical models have been proposed to describe or to reproduce the magnetopause location, but they are restricted to the real-number functions. In this work, we analytically develop a magnetopause model in the complex-number domain, which is advantageous in deforming the magnetopause shape in a conformal (angle-preserving) way, and is suited to compare different models or map one model onto another.

Temperatures at 85 km around Earth's poles in summer can be so cold that small ice particles form. These can become charged, and, combined with turbulence at these altitudes, they can influence the many electrons present. This can cause large radar echoes called polar mesospheric summer echoes. We use radio waves to heat these echoes on and off when the sun is close to or below the horizon. This allows us to gain some insight into these ice particles and how the sun influences the echoes.

Poleward moving auroral forms (PMAFs) are specific types of aurora believed to be the signature of the connection of Earth's magnetic field to that of the sun. In this paper, we discuss the evolution of PMAFs with regard to their auroral morphology as observed in all-sky camera images. We interpret different aspects of this evolution in terms of the connection dynamics between the magnetic fields of Earth and the sun. This sheds more light on the magnetic interaction between the sun and Earth.

We show, for the first time, an analytical relationship between the intermittency level and the magnetic spectral index in the slow-solar-wind turbulence. Our results supply an observational basis for numerical and theoretical studies of the intermittent turbulence. These results will also help to obtain more information on the contributions of the intermittent structures to the power spectra as well as on the physical nature of the energy cascade taking place in the solar wind.

An annular solar eclipse passed over Southeast Asia on 26 December 2019. The passage of an eclipse can cause observable effects on the Earth's ionosphere. Studying these effects may help us build a better understanding of the Earth's upper atmosphere and the geospace environment. Taking advantage of the growing network of GPS receivers and existing ionosondes in the region, we examined changes in the low-latitude ionosphere over Southeast Asia during this solar eclipse.

The receiver at the Harbin Engineering University and eight surrounding HF broadcast stations ~1000 km observed the response in the ionospheric electron density to the activity of Typhoon Kong-rey (30 September–6 October 2018). On 1–2 and 5–6 October 2018, the 20 min to 60 min period quasi-sinusoidal variations in the electron density with an amplitude of 0.4 % to 6 % resulted in 0.1 Hz to 0.5 Hz amplitude Doppler shift variations, a factor of 2–3 increase as compared to a quiet time reference.

The Hunga Tonga–Hunga Ha‘apai volcanic eruption was one of the most vigorous volcanic explosions in the last centuries. The eruption launched many atmospheric waves traveling around the Earth. In this study, we identify these volcanic waves at the edge of space in the mesosphere/lower-thermosphere, leveraging wind observations conducted with multi-static meteor radars in northern Europe and with the Chilean Observation Network De Meteor Radars (CONDOR).

In the terrestrial ionosphere, sporadic (metallic) layers are formed. The formation of these layers are related to the action of atmospheric waves. These waves, also named tides, are due to the absorption of solar radiation in the atmosphere. We investigated the role of the tides with 8 h period in the formation of the sporadic layers. The study was conducted using ionosonde and meteor radar data, as well as computing simulations. The 8 h tides intensified the density of the sporadic layers.

Mirror modes are magnetic bottles found in the space plasma environment of planets contributing to the energy exchange with the solar wind. We use magnetic field measurements from the NASA Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN mission to detect them around Mars and show how they evolve in time and space. The structures concentrate in two regions: one behind the bow shock and the other closer to the planet. They compete with other wave modes depending on the solar flux and heliocentric distance.

The present study discusses the modeling and interpretation of magnetospheric structures via electromagnetic knots for the first time. The mathematical foundations of electromagnetic knots are presented, and the formalism is reformulated in terms of the classical wave telescope technique. The method is tested against synthetically generated magnetic field data describing a plasmoid as a two-dimensional magnetic ring structure.

Global Positioning System (GPS) measurements of plasmasphere electron content (PEC) by Jason-2 are compared to PEC for ground-based GPS receivers in Africa. Jason-2 vertical PEC measurements corroborated the ground-based measurements, and its co-aligned slant PEC values were generally close to the ground-based slant PEC values. This correspondence indicates that the Jason-2 PEC measurements could be used to resolve some ambiguities in the determination of the ground-based PEC values.