Lecturer: Ingrid Sandahl (IRF) Date: 2007-03-15 10:00 Place: Aniara
Comparison and significance of auroral investigation results obtained by the Swedish and Russian teams of the bilateral expedition to Spitsbergen in 1899-1900 years
Ingrid Sandahl
Swedish Institute of Space Physics
Results of instrumental observations of aurora at Spitsbergen carried out by joint Swedish-Russian expedition during 1899-1900 years are under consideration. Auroral observations took place in frame of great bilateral Arc-of-Meridian expedition, which pathroned by the Swedish Royal Family and the Russian Imperial Family. The Russian-Swedish Arc-of-Meridian measurements were closely coordinated but auroral measurements were almost independent in two points of Spitsbergen. The reports of the Russian astronomer J.Sykora and the Swedish geophysicist J.Westman are the basic auroral data for our presentation. Both scientists have used the same type of photo cameras and spectrographs, which were the best in that time and were made in Potsdam by M.Toefer. The sample of the spectrograph is still kept at IRF. We present a comparative analysis of auroral data from the Russian and Swedish stations in three directions:1)Visual observations of aurora describing features of auroral forms and giving us statistical data on aurora occurence 2)Photos of aurora 3)Auroral spectra It is shown that observations of both teams contain enough data to construct an auroral oval. The presented auroral photos are the first obtained in Spitsbergen and probably one of the first photographic observations in the Arctic. The auroral spectra demomonstrate a high spectral resolution and show not only the main auroral emissions in the blue-green spectral range but also some weak emissions in the violet region. All data are interpreted from the modern point of view. It seems the Russian-Swedish 1899-1900 expedition carried out the first complex auroral investigations in the Arctic using optical instruments.
Created 2007-03-01 12:03:13 by Mats Holmström Last changed 2007-03-01 13:53:13 by Mats Holmström
