A Comparison of Radio Echoes from the Aurora Australis and Aurora Borealis

Abstract

THE problem of the relation of the occurrence of auroræ in the northern and southern hemispheres is one of considerable importance to the theories of auroral formation. Hitherto, the assessment of these occurrences has been handicapped by the difficulties of the collection of simultaneous visual observations in the arctic and antarctic regions, and by the fact that in any event auroræ occur on at least 75 per cent of nights in the zones of maximum activity in which the visual observations tend to be concentrated. So far the evidence for the simultaneity of the occurrences has been largely of a statistical nature¹. The Royal Society's Expedition to Halley Bay has provided an opportunity for a simultaneous study of the aurora australis and borealis by the radio-echo technique, and a preliminary account of the results is given in this communication.