Correspondence of Pi2 Pulsations, Aurora Luminosity, and Plasma Flux Fluctuation Near a Substorm Brightening Aurora: Arase Observations

Although many substorm-related observations have been made, we still have limited insight into propagation of the plasma and field perturbations in Pi2 frequencies (∼7–25 mHz) in association with substorm aurora, particularly from the auroral source region in the inner magnetosphere to the ground. In this study, we present conjugate observations of a substorm brightening aurora using an all-sky camera and an inner-magnetospheric satellite Arase at L ∼ 5. A camera at Gakona (62.39°N, 214.78°E), Alaska, observed a substorm auroral brightening on 28 December 2018, and the footprint of the satellite was located just equatorward of the aurora. Around the timing of the auroral brightening, the satellite observed a series of quasi-periodic variations in the electric and magnetic fields and in the energy flux of electrons and ions. We demonstrate that the diamagnetic variations of thermal pressure and medium-energy ion energy flux in the inner magnetosphere show approximately one-to-one correspondence with the oscillations in luminosity of the substorm brightening aurora and high-latitudinal Pi2 pulsations on the ground. We also found their anti-correlation with low-energy electrons. Cavity-type Pi2 pulsations were observed at mid- and low-latitudinal stations. Based on these observations, we suggest that a wave phenomenon in the substorm auroral source region, like ballooning type instability, play an important role in the development of substorm and related auroral brightening and high-latitude Pi2, and that the variation of the auroral luminosity was directly driven by keV electrons which were modulated by Alfven waves in the inner magnetosphere.