FURTHER OBSERVATIONS OF THE HORIZONTAL MOVEMENTS OF AURORA

Abstract

A previous paper showed that systematic motions of aurora parallel and normal to the geomagnetic meridians could be deduced from successions of all-sky camera photographs. More reliable deductions which are based on a much larger number of observations, including some from a station inside the auroral zone, are reported in this paper. Both southward and northward speeds increase with geomagnetic latitude to the auroral zone where they become constant, or even decrease slightly, before continuing to increase inside the auroral zone. A seasonal variation of north–south speeds does not appear to exist. A diurnal variation of north–south speeds, dependent on geomagnetic latitude, is evident, the speeds decreasing to a minimum during the morning hours to the south of the auroral zone and increasing to a maximum during the same hours to the north of the zone. Large positive correlations exist between north–south speeds and departures of the magnetic field intensity from normal. East–west speeds either decrease or remain constant with increasing geomagnetic latitude. A significant seasonal variation of east–west speeds is not evident. Eastward speeds are at a maximum between 03 and 04 hours L.M.T., and are associated with negative magnetic bays; westward speeds, between 21 and 22 hours L.M.T., and are associated with positive magnetic bays.