Sun ID: 3512

THEMIS/ASI Nights

Visualizations by Tom Bridgman Released on July 23, 2008

A collection of ground-based All-Sky Imagers (ASI) make up another important component of the THEMIS mission. It is sometimes referred to as the sixth THEMIS satellite. Descriptions of the instruments are available on the THEMIS-Canada Home Page. Imagery from each camera is co-registered to the surface of the Earth and assembled into a view of the auroral events.

This movie presents data from the first large auroral substorm since the THEMIS launch. The substorm reached its maximum between 6:00 and 7:00 UT.

Note that the ASI data in this movie are assembled from the lower resolution quick-look data sets. These create some extra pixellation of the data in the static high-resolution views. This animation has been superceded by ID 3590: THEMIS/ASI Nights-High Resolution, which uses higher-resolution ASI data.

As the camera moves over northern Canada, already in night, we see the circles of sky coverage for the ASI ground stations (blue circles). The eastern-most stations have come online and we see the image data from these cameras (colored green).

No time stamp. As the camera moves over northern Canada, already in night, we see the circles of sky coverage for the ASI ground stations (blue circles). The eastern-most stations have come online and we see the image data from these cameras (colored green).

The night progresses and ASI cameras further west come online. The bright green structures from the aurora become evident.

No time stamp. The night progresses and ASI cameras further west come online. The bright green structures from the aurora become evident.

Aurora regions brighten as the substorm hits. Components of the auroral structures begin to change more quickly.

No time stamp. Aurora regions brighten as the substorm hits. Components of the auroral structures begin to change more quickly.

No time stamp. As local morning arrives, the ASI stations turn off, starting from the eastern portion of Canada.

Visualization Credits

Tom Bridgman (Global Science and Technology, Inc.): Lead Animator
Greg Shirah (NASA/GSFC): Animator
Rani Gran (NASA/GSFC): Producer
Vassilis Angelopoulos (University of California at Berkeley): Scientist
David G. Sibeck (NASA/GSFC): Scientist
Harald Frey (University of California at Berkeley): Scientist
Nicola Fox (Johns Hopkins University/APL): Scientist

Please give credit for this item to:
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio

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Mission:
THEMIS

Data Used:

THEMIS/All-Sky Imager (ASI)

Mosaic - 2008-03-09T00:00:00UT - 2008-03-09T12:00:00UT

http://aurora.phys.ucalgary.ca/themis/

view all stories where this data set is used

Note: While we identify the data sets used in these visualizations, we do not store any further details nor the data sets themselves on our site.

This item is part of this series:
Auroral Substorms - the View from Space

Keywords:
SVS >> HDTV
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Atmosphere >> Atmospheric Phenomena
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Sun-earth Interactions >> Ionosphere/Magnetosphere Particles >> Aurorae
SVS >> Space Weather
SVS >> THEMIS
SVS >> Auroral Substorm
SVS >> For Educators
NASA Science >> Sun
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Sun-earth Interactions >> Ionosphere/Magnetosphere Dynamics >> Aurorae
SVS >> All-Sky Imaging

GCMD keywords can be found on the Internet with the following citation: Olsen, L.M., G. Major, K. Shein, J. Scialdone, S. Ritz, T. Stevens, M. Morahan, A. Aleman, R. Vogel, S. Leicester, H. Weir, M. Meaux, S. Grebas, C.Solomon, M. Holland, T. Northcutt, R. A. Restrepo, R. Bilodeau, 2013. NASA/Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Earth Science Keywords. Version 8.0.0.0.0