As residents of the troposphere, Earth's lowest atmospheric layer, we're used to air made of neutral particles. The oxygen and nitrogen we breathe are magnetically balanced atoms and molecules with all their electrons accounted for. But hundreds of miles above us, our air begins to fundamentally change character. Energized by the sun's unfiltered rays, electrons are pried from their atoms, which then take on a positive charge.
"Friction is a great analogy," said Stephen Kaeppler, assistant professor of physics and astronomy at Clemson University in South Carolina, and principal investigator for the INCAA mission."We all know that we rub our hands together, you're going to get heat. It's the same basic idea, except we're dealing with gases now instead."
Auroras form when electrons from near-Earth space suddenly pour into our atmosphere. They eventually collide withA conceptual animation showing electrons traveling down Earth's magnetic field lines, colliding into particles in in Earth's atmosphere to trigger the aurora. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/CILab/Bailee DesRocher
Plunging through the crowded atmosphere, these electrons collide with neutral atoms, generating friction and heat within the. But they also stir up the broader boundary layer, enhancing the mixing and friction at larger scales. Figuring out how aurora influence the boundary layer is key to understanding how much energy they ultimately release into our upper atmosphere.
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