AGF-351: Optical methods in auroral physics research (7,5 ECTS)

UNIS, Longyearbyen, 14 - 25 Nov 2011

Students should plan on
(1) Arrive Longyearbyen no later than 13 Nov 2011
(2) Depart Longyearbyen no earlier than 27 Nov 2011

General information
The course is divided into two parts. Part (A) consists of experimental work with part (B) as theoretical support. The course menu or description is found here.

Important
Remember to book accommodation as described in the acceptance letter from UNIS!

Self study material part (A)
(1) Hunten, D. M., F. E. Roach, and J. W. Chamberlain, A photometric unit for the airglow and aurora, Journal of Atmospheric and Terrestrial Physics, 8, 345–346, (1956) [pdf].
(2) Urban Brandstrom, The Auroral Large Imaging System (ALIS), Doctoral thesis at the Swedish Institute of Space Physics, p. 21 - 64, (2003) [pdf].
(3) Bjorn Gustavsson, Auroral Image Data Analysis, p. 1 - 78, (2011) [pdf].
(4) Aapo Hyvarinen, Jarmo Hurri, and Patrik O. Hoyer, Natural Image Statistics, Springer, p. 1 - 21, (2009) [pdf].
(5) Sigernes, F., Dyrland, M., Peters, N., Lorentzen, D., Svenøe, T., Heia, K., Chernouss, S., Deehr, C., and Kosch, M., The absolute sensitivity of digital colour cameras, Opt. Express 17, No. 22, 20211-20220, (2009) [pdf].

Recommended reading part (B)
For the second week of the course, the basic space physics background is enough and no in advance reading is compulsory. If the student is not familiar with basic concepts of ionospheric and magnetospheric plasma physics, good textbooks are: W. Baumjohann and R. A. Treumann: Basic Space Plasma Physics, Imperial College Press, (1999); and A. Brekke: Physics of the Upper Atmosphere, John Wiley & Sons, (1997). Text of the high-latitude ionosphere can also be found from Chapter 12 of R. W. Schunk and A. F. Nagy: Ionospheres, Physics, Plasma Physics, and Chemistry, Cambridge University Press, (2004). The book by A. Vallance Jones: Aurora, D. Reidel Publishing Company, (1974), gives detailed description of aurora including optical emissions caused by energetic particles. The book by G. Paschmann, S. Haaland and R. Treumann: Auroral Plasma Physics, Space Sciences Series of ISSI, (2002), describes magnetospheric processes and recent observations of generation of aurora.

Schedule
Class rooms (when & where)
Topics/lecturers - Last update 3 Oct 2011

Project work
A large part of the course will consist of project work which should be documented in the form of a project report (100%). Typically a project involves the use of KHO observations in combination with other data. If no suitable events take place during the course, we will use existing online data or use whatever we find suitable. Keyword is flexibility.

Guidlines for the project work
Auroral emission rates from Tima
Deadline: 15.01.2012

Message board / Questions
In part (A) we plan to conduct DSLR camera calibration [5] of as many cameras we can get our hands on. So please bring your own DSLR camera. If you do not have one, borrow one. Let me know which camera you plan to bring so that I (freds@unis.no) can prepare lenses etc. Also, prepare to be able to read the raw files of your camera. I assume that you all have laptops for your studies (?) If yes, I need info on which analyzing software you use, IDL or MATLAB? If you have installed it on your laptop, it will make us much more mobile.

NOTE!
Mikko Syrjäsuo plans to use the R software to analyse data. Download and install it on your laptop.
Link: www.r-project.org

Lecture notes
1) Trond Trondsen, An overview of existing and new instruments / technology (not open to the public).
2) Urban Braendstrom, Basic radiometry and SNR eq. for CCD, ICCD and EMCCD.
3) Björn Gustavsson, Auroral Image Data Analysis.
4) Fred Sigernes, Basic theory of calibration and DSLR quantum efficiency.
5) Syrjäsuo Mikko, Optical methods in auroral physics.
6) Tima Sergienko, Auroral aeronomy.
7) Kari Kaila, Auroral Spectroscopy.
8) Anita Aikio Magnetospheric lectures: [1], [2], [3], [4], [5] & [6].

Contacts

Name
E-mail
Phone
Tima Sergienko tima@irf.se
Fred Sigernes fred@unis.no +47 915 31203
Anita Aikio anita.aikio@oulu.fi
Kari Kaila kari.kaila@oulu.fi
Urban Braendstroem urban.brandstrom@irf.se
Björn Gustavsson bjorn@irf.se
Trond Trondsen trondsen@keoscientific.com
Syrjäsuo Mikko mikko.syrjasuo@aalto.fi
Stefan Claes stefan@unis.no
Dag Lorentzen dagl@unis.no

Or mail us all.

Contact all students by E-mail.

Reference material
(1) Baker, D. J., Rayleigh, the unit for light radiance, Applied Optics, 13, 2160–2163, (1974).
(2) Doran J. Baker and Gerald J. Romick, The Rayleigh: interpretation of the unit in terms of column emission rate or apparent radiance expressed in SI units, Applied Optics, Vol. 15, Issue 8, pp. 1966-1968 (1976).
(3) R. A. Van Tassel and D. E. Paulsen, "Rayleigh, the Unit for Light Radiance: Comment," Appl. Opt. 14, 559-559 (1975).
(4) Nicodemus, F. E., Radiance, American Journal of Physics, 31, 368–377, (1963).
(5) John J. Horan, "Symbols Units Nomenclature: A Omega question," Appl. Opt. 14, 2033- (1975).
(6) W. H. Steel, "Luminosity, Throughput, or Etendue?," Appl. Opt. 13, 704-705 (1974).
(7) Boyd, R. W., Radiometry and the Detection of Optical Radiation, John Wiley and Sons, New York, (1983)
(8) Trondsen, Trond S., High Spatial and Temporal Resolution Auroral Imaging, Ph.D. thesis, University of Tromsø, Norway, (1998) [pdf].
(9)28. Appendix: Ligth calibration by C14 activated ligth standards, [pdf].