Investigating Electrodynamics of the Pulsating Aurora

Pulsating aurora are a common auroral subset characterized by an optical strobing effect of multiple small patches that are typically found in morning MLT sectors and following substorm breakup. Pulsating aurora are attributed to higher energy particle precipitation than discrete aurora and penetrate to lower altitudes in the E-region and upper D-region. The strobing nature of the optical effect is reflected in high resolution electron density maps at these altitudes. This poster focuses on observational efforts to quantify the current systems associated with pulsating aurora. For this investigation, we use all pulsating aurora events in 10-year incoherent scatter radar and all-sky imager datasets from 2011-2021. We quantify the contribution that D-region Pedersen conductivity enhancements have on the overall energy dissipation within an auroral event. We further present electric field measurements associated with these events to understand the interplay between the electric fields and the conductivities.