Magnetospheric substorms are bursts of activity in Earth's aurora that can rapidly transform faint arcs into bright, dynamic displays stretching across the night sky. These events occur as magnetic energy built up in Earth's magnetosphere, driven by the solar wind and the Sun's magnetic field, is suddenly released. Although the solar wind supplies the energy and particles that power the aurora, the precise mechanism that initiates this abrupt unloading has remained unclear.

The study links the appearance of auroral beads - chains of bright points that form along an auroral arc - with changes in auroral kilometric radiation, a type of natural radio emission generated in near-Earth space directly above the aurora. An international team led by Southampton physicists examined data from ground-based cameras in Lapland, imaging satellites, and radio measurements from spacecraft including NASA's Polar mission and Japan's Arase satellite to trace how the beads and the radio signal evolve together during substorm onset.

The scientists found that prior to a substorm occurring there is a distinct signal in auroral kilometric radiation activity almost exactly as the auroral beads become visible, and that this burst of radio wave emissions increases sharply at the onset of the substorm. Investigated in detail for the first time, this structured radio signature offers important clues about the physical processes operating immediately before and during substorm onset, producing coupled signatures in both visible aurora and radio emissions.

Lead author Dr Siyuan Wu notes that the fine, frequency-drifting structures in the radio data point to the development of small-scale electric potential structures along magnetic field lines connected to the beads. "The fine, frequency-drifting structures seen in AKR provide direct evidence of the formation of small-scale electric potential structures along magnetic field lines connected to the auroral beads. Their periodicity and propagation speed show remarkable consistency across multiple datasets." "Together, these results provide new evidence in the generation of auroral beads and the substorm triggering process."

Co-author Dr Daniel Whiter explains that the aurora borealis and aurora australis form when charged particles from space collide with atoms and molecules in Earth's atmosphere, with the solar wind acting as the energy source. "The aurora borealis and aurora australis are caused by charged particles from space colliding with atoms and molecules in our atmosphere," explains physicist Dr Daniel Whiter of the University of Southampton. "Particles ejected from the Sun flow out through the solar system carrying the Sun's magnetic field with them, and this 'solar wind' is the source of energy for the aurora. Auroral substorms are caused by the accumulation and then release of magnetic energy stored in Earth's magnetosphere during its interaction with the solar wind flow. However, what exactly triggers this energy to suddenly unload in spectacular fashion isn't fully understood."

The team suggests that the newly identified radio signature may reflect a mechanism common to substorm onset in Earth's magnetosphere and potentially in the magnetospheres of planets such as Saturn and Jupiter, where similar auroral processes occur. They aim to build on this work by examining more events and extending the analysis to other planetary environments to test how universal this process might be.

Research Report:Scientists close in on solving the mystery behind intense auroral storms

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University of Southampton
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