Identification

Title

A new DMSP magnetometer and auroral boundary data set and estimates of field-aligned currents in dynamic auroral boundary coordinates

Abstract

We have developed a method for reprocessing the multidecadal, multispacecraft Defense Meteorological Satellite Program Special Sensor Magnetometer (DMSP SSM) data set and have applied it to 15 spacecraft years of data (DMSP Flight 16–18, 2010–2014). This Level-2 data set improves on other available SSM data sets with recalculated spacecraft locations and magnetic perturbations, artifact signal removal, representations of the observations in geomagnetic coordinates, and in situ auroral boundaries. Spacecraft locations have been recalculated using ground-tracking information. Magnetic perturbations (measured field minus modeled main field) are recomputed. The updated locations ensure the appropriate model field is used. We characterize and remove a slow-varying signal in the magnetic field measurements. This signal is a combination of ring current and measurement artifacts. A final artifact remains after processing: step discontinuities in the baseline caused by activation/deactivation of spacecraft electronics. Using coincident data from the DMSP precipitating electrons and ions instrument (SSJ4/5), we detect the in situ auroral boundaries with an improvement to the Redmon et al. (2010) algorithm. We embed the location of the aurora and an accompanying figure of merit in the Level-2 SSM data product. Finally, we demonstrate the potential of this new data set by estimating field-aligned current (FAC) density using the Minimum Variance Analysis technique. The FAC estimates are then expressed in dynamic auroral boundary coordinates using the SSJ-derived boundaries, demonstrating a dawn-dusk asymmetry in average FAC location relative to the equatorward edge of the aurora. The new SSM data set is now available in several public repositories.

Resource type

document

Resource locator

Unique resource identifier

code

http://n2t.net/ark:/85065/d7bv7k4b

codeSpace

Dataset language

eng

Spatial reference system

code identifying the spatial reference system

Classification of spatial data and services

Topic category

geoscientificInformation

Keywords

Keyword set

keyword value

Text

originating controlled vocabulary

title

Resource Type

reference date

date type

publication

effective date

2016-01-01T00:00:00Z

Geographic location

West bounding longitude

East bounding longitude

North bounding latitude

South bounding latitude

Temporal reference

Temporal extent

Begin position

End position

Dataset reference date

date type

publication

effective date

2017-08-10T00:00:00Z

Frequency of update

Quality and validity

Lineage

Conformity

Data format

name of format

version of format

Constraints related to access and use

Constraint set

Use constraints

Limitations on public access

None

Responsible organisations

Responsible party

contact position

OpenSky Support

organisation name

UCAR/NCAR - Library

full postal address

PO Box 3000

Boulder

80307-3000

email address

opensky@ucar.edu

web address

http://opensky.ucar.edu/

name: homepage

responsible party role

pointOfContact

Metadata on metadata

Metadata point of contact