Mesoscale convection structures associated with airglow patches characterized using cluster-imager conjunctions

However, recent studies have shown that mesoscale flows are often found to be collocated with airglow patches. These mesoscale flows are typically a few hundred meters per second faster than the large-scale background and are associated with major auroral intensifications when they reach the poleward boundary of the nightside auroral oval.

Patches often also contain ionospheric signatures of enhanced field-aligned currents and localized electron flux enhancements, indicating that patches are associated with magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling on open field lines. However, magnetospheric measurements of this coupling are lacking, and it has not been understood what the magnetospheric signatures of patches on open field lines are. The work presented here explores the magnetospheric counterpart of patches and the role these structures have in plasma transport across the open field-line region in the magnetosphere.