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Ann. Geophys., 20, 1039-1047, 2002
www.ann-geophys.net/20/1039/2002/
© European Geosciences Union 2002
OVATION: Oval variation, assessment, tracking, intensity, and online nowcasting
P. T. Newell1, T. Sotirelis1, J. M. Ruohoniemi1, J. F. Carbary1, K. Liou1, J. P. Skura1, C.-I. Meng1, C. Deehr2, D. Wilkinson2, and F. J. Rich3
1The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory Laurel, Maryland, 20723, USA
2University of Alaska at Fairbanks, Fairbanks, Alaska, USA
3Air Force Research Laboratory Hanscom AFB, Massachusetts, USA
Correspondence to: P. T. Newell
(patrick.newell@jhuapl.edu)
Abstract. The location of the
auroral oval and the intensity of the auroral precipitation within it are basic
elements in any adequate characterization of the state of the magnetosphere.
Yet despite the many ground-based and spacecraft-borne instruments monitoring
various aspects of auroral behavior, there are no clear and consistent answers
available to those wishing to locate the auroral oval or to quantify its
intensity. The purpose of OVATION is to create a tool which does so. OVATION is
useful both for archival purposes and for space weather nowcasting. The
long-running DMSP particle data set, which covers both hemispheres, and has
operated since the early 1980s, and which will continue to operate well into
the next decade, is chosen as a calibration standard. Other data sets,
including global images from Polar UVI, SuperDARN boundaries, and meridian
scanning photometer images, are cross-calibrated to the DMSP standard. Each
incorporated instrument has its average offset from the DMSP standard
determined as a function of MLT, along with the standard deviations. The
various data can, therefore, be combined in a meaningful manner, with the
weight attached to a given boundary measurement varying inversely with the
variance (square of the standard deviation). OVATION currently spans from
December 1983 through the present, including real-time data. Participation of
additional experimenters is highly welcomed. The only prerequisites are a
willingness to conduct the prescribed cross-calibration procedure, and to make
the data available online. The real-time auroral oval location can be found
here: http://sd-www.jhuapl.edu/Aurora/ovation live/northdisplay.html.
Key words. Magnetospheric physics (auroral
phenomena; energetic particles, precipitating; magnetosphere – ionosphere
interactions)
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