Auroral Boundary Derived from IMAGE Satellite Mission Data (May 2000 - Oct 2002)

Auroral oval boundary locations derived from IMAGE (Imager for Magnetopause-to-Aurora Global Exploration) satellite FUV (Far Ultra Violet imager) data covering the period from May 2000 until October 2002. Three sets of boundary data were derived separately from the WIC (Wideband Imaging Camera) and SI12/SI13 (Spectrographic Imager 121.8/135.6 nm) detectors.

For each image, the position of each pixel in AACGM (Altitude Adjusted Corrected Geomagnetic) coordinates was established. Each image was then divided into 24 segments covering 1 hour of magnetic local time (MLT). For each MLT segment, an intensity profile was constructed by finding the average intensity across bins of 1 degree magnetic latitude in the range of 50 to 90 degrees (AACGM).

Two functions were fit to each intensity profile: a function with one Gaussian component and a quadratic background, and a function with two Gaussian components and a quadratic background. The function with a single Gaussian component should provide a reasonable model when the auroral emission forms in a continuous oval. When the oval shows bifurcation, the function with two Gaussian components may provide a better model of the auroral emission. Of the two functions fit to each intensity profile, we determine the one with the lower reduced chi-square goodness-of-fit statistic to be the better model for that profile. For the version 1.1 boundary location data, the fitting process was performed over 200 iterations to achieve each fit.

The auroral boundaries were then determined to be the position of the peak of the poleward Gaussian curve, plus its FWHM (full-width half-maximum) value of the Gaussian, to the peak of the equatorward Gaussian, minus its FWHM. In the case of the single Gaussian fit, the same curve is used for both boundaries.

A number of criteria were applied to discard poorly located auroral boundaries arising from either poor fitting or incomplete data.

A further correction can be applied to the data, to estimate the location of the Earth's magnetic field's OCB (open-close boundary). These corrections have been tabulated in a separate file; if this correction is required the adjustments should be made to the poleward boundary value.