The Auroral Electrojet and auroral Boundaries estimated from Swarm observations (Swarm-AEBS) is a project in response to the Swarm DISC (Data, Innovation and Science Cluster) ITT 1.2 "Strength and location of the auroral electrojets based on Swarm data".

The Swarm mission provides an excellent opportunity for studies related to the ionospheric currents, aurora, magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling, and space weather especially at high latitudes.

In the Swarm-AEBS project, a set of new Swarm data products that characterise the auroral electrojets and auroral oval boundaries will be derived from Swarm magnetic field measurements. These include the electrojet sheet current density as well as the total horizontal sheet and associated large-scale field-aligned current density along the Swarm orbit ionospheric footprints at auroral latitudes, estimated using the Spherical Elementary Current System (SECS) method. The electrojet sheet current density will also be estimated using the Line Current (LC) method as this method allows extending the analysis to cover the polar cap region as well. Furthermore, the electrojet boundaries and peaks will be provided, the latter characterised in terms of peak current density and peak magnetic field disturbance at ground level. This set of products is completed by auroral oval boundaries, associated with auroral precipitation, that are estimated from the presence of small-scale (<150 KM) field-aligned currents.

Documentation

Download project documents:

• Swarm-AEBS product description
• Swarm-AEBS procesing algorithm description
• Swarm AEBS validation report

Learn more about the Swarm-AEBS project

Project duration: January 2018 - January 2020. This project was funded by ESA via the Swarm DISC, Sub-Contract No. SW-CO-DTU-GS-112.