ROPA – Rocket Observations of Pulsating Aurora
Mechanical Drawing by Ted Finne, WFF/NSROC
Overview
The purpose of the Rocket Observations of Pulsating Aurora sounding rocket mission is to investigate various aspects of pulsating aurora, including the spatial distribution of patches during a pulsating event, characteristics of electrons and ions associated with these patches, current closure in a pulsating patches and the convection electric field and its possible relation to drifting patches. The mission has two main objectives
1) to acquire large-scale, topside images of a pulsating auroral region for comparison to other in-situ data and to optical data from ground observations and
2) to investigate current closure associated with pulsating patches.