Characterization and dynamics of the auroral electron precipitation during substorms deduced from IMAGE-FUV

[1] The FUV imager on board the IMAGE satellite provides simultaneous images of the north polar aurora every 2 min in three spectral channels. The Wideband Imaging Camera (WIC) responds primarily to the N-2 LBH bands while one of the Spectral Imagers (SI13) includes the OI 135.6 nm emission and nearby LBH bands. The third channel (SI12) is sensitive to Doppler-shifted Lyman-alpha emission at 121.8 nm generated by proton precipitation. The relative magnitude of the WIC and SI13 signals depends on the altitude distribution of the energy deposition, in response to the differential O-2 absorption and the altitude dependence of the neutral composition. The ratio of simultaneous images from WIC and SI13 is used to derive the spatial distribution of the characteristic energy of the precipitating auroral electrons and the energy flux they carry. The method is described and the uncertainties introduced by possible perturbations of the neutral composition known to occur in the auroral thermosphere are discussed. The first part of this study describes a validation of this method performed by comparing precipitation characteristics derived from FUV with in situ measurements from two coincident passes of the NOAA-16 satellite. They are shown to agree within about 45%. The second part applies this ratio method to analyze the time evolution of auroral activity which occured during two substorms on 28 October 2000. The time evolution is displayed in the form of magnetic local time and magnetic latitude keograms. It is shown that the pattern of the electron average energy distribution exhibits both spatial and temporal changes. Comparison with FAST in situ electron spectrograms confirms the ability of IMAGE to detect precipitation events with a similar to200 km spatial scale. However the characteristics of the physical process leading to electron acceleration cannot be identified with FUV. The highest values of the average energy are colocated in time and space with the largest electron precipitation fluxes. A dawnward motion of bright features is observed in the postmidnight at speeds on the order of 5 magnetic local time hours/UT hour.