Narrow bursts of intense electron precipitation fluxes within inverted‐V events

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Abstract
Inverted‐V events have been examined in detail to identify small scale structures within them which might be related to auroral arcs. The rate of energy deposition into the atmosphere by the precipitating electrons of inverted‐Vs was computed from the energy spectra measured by the AE‐D satellite for 30 passes. Bursts of high deposition rate with a short duration (<5 seconds) were found inside inverted‐V events. From an examination of 45 bursts, most bursts were found to have a latitudinal width less than 0.2°, and occurred from 65° to 75° invariant latitude during the evening hours (19‐01 MLT). Optical emission intensities of 5577 Å and 6300 Å were inferred from the measured electron fluxes to show these bursts capable of producing bright emissions. These results suggest that the electron fluxes of these narrow bursts have the proper characteristics to cause discrete auroral arcs in the atmosphere.