Articles | Volume 43, issue 2
https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-43-349-2025
https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-43-349-2025
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03 Jul 2025
Regular paper | Highlight paper |  | 03 Jul 2025

First observations of continuum emission in dayside aurora

Noora Partamies, Rowan Dayton-Oxland, Katie Herlingshaw, Ilkka Virtanen, Bea Gallardo-Lacourt, Mikko Syrjäsuo, Fred Sigernes, Takanori Nishiyama, Toshi Nishimura, Mathieu Barthelemy, Anasuya Aruliah, Daniel Whiter, Lena Mielke, Maxime Grandin, Eero Karvinen, Marjan Spijkers, and Vincent E. Ledvina

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Cited articles

Archer, W. E., Gallardo-Lacourt, B., Perry, G. W., St.-Maurice, J. P., Buchert, S. C., and Donovan, E.: Steve: The Optical Signature of Intense Subauroral Ion Drifts, Geophys. Res. Lett., 46, 6279–6286, https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GL082687, 2019a. a, b, c
Archer, W. E., Maurice, J.-P. S., Gallardo‐Lacourt, B., Perry, G. W., Cully, C. M., Donovan, E., Gillies, D. M., Downie, R., Smith, J., and Eurich, D.: The Vertical Distribution of the Optical Emissions of a Steve and Picket Fence Event, Geophys. Res. Lett., 46, 10719–10725, https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GL084473, 2019b. a
Aruliah, A., Förster, M., Hood, R., McWhirter, I., and Doornbos, E.: Comparing high-latitude thermospheric winds from Fabry–Perot interferometer (FPI) and challenging mini-satellite payload (CHAMP) accelerometer measurements, Ann. Geophys., 37, 1095–1120, https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-37-1095-2019, 2019. a
Aruliah, A. L. and Griffin, E.: Evidence of meso-scale structure in the high-latitude thermosphere, Ann. Geophys., 19, 37–46, https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-19-37-2001, 2001. a
Aruliah, A. L., Griffin, E. M., Yiu, H.-C. I., McWhirter, I., and Charalambous, A.: SCANDI – an all-sky Doppler imager for studies of thermospheric spatial structure, Ann. Geophys., 28, 549–567, https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-28-549-2010, 2010. a
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Editor-in-chief
The manuscript reports the first observations of continuum emission at the poleward boundary of the dayside auroral oval. The unique measurements show that a number of different emission lines and bands contribute to the broadband continuum emission. Even emission structures in the near and far infrared were observed, suggesting that multiple emitting species are responsible for the observed spectral enhancements. The authors suggest that the interplay of different heating mechanisms may be an important factor in the generation of high-latitude continuum emissions.
Short summary
We studied the first broad band emissions, called continuum, in the dayside aurora. They are similar to Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancement (STEVE) with white-, pale-pink-, or mauve-coloured light. But unlike STEVE, they follow the dayside aurora forming rays and other dynamic shapes. We used ground optical and radar observations and found evidence of heating and upwelling of both plasma and neutral air. This study provides new information on conditions for continuum emission, but its understanding will require further work.
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