Supplementary Materials: 1951 Conference

Thanks to Ralph Nicholls, I am able to put the following material up on these web pages. This consists of the conference photograph and caption, the opening and closing remarks, the table of contents and the list of participants at the historic Conference on Auroral Physics, held at the University of Western Ontario, July 23-26, 1951. Don Moorcroft. [This conference was referred to during the workshop several times: (1) here, (2) here, and (3) here

Front row, left to right:	H. E. Moses, J. F. Carlson, A. T. Vassy, C. Stormer, M. E. Warga, N. L Oliver, R. M. Chapman, B. T. Darling, L. Herman.
Second row, left to right:	A. B. Meinel, T.Y. Wu, S. Borowitz, L. Katz, N. C. Gerson, Chairman, D. Barbier.
Third row, left to right:	R. W. Nicholls, D. M. Hunten, S. Chapman, H. S. W. Massey, C. W. Gartlein, J. Vandertuin, E. Vassy, W. Petrie, R. G. Turner.
Fourth row, left to right:	D. Schulte, A. L. Aden, H. Alfven, A. D. Misener, D. R. Bates, R. W. B. Pearse, S. Altschuler, C. E. Montgomery, O. Oldenberg.
Back row, left to right:	M. W. Feast, J. H. Blackwell.

The Conference on Auroral Physics was convened on 23-26 July 1951 at London, Ontario, Canada. It was jointly sponsored by the Geophysics Research Directorate of the USAF Cambridge Research Center and the Department of Physics of the University of Western Ontario. The steering committee responsible for planning the symposium consisted of A. D. Misener, R.W. Nicholls, and the writer. In outlining the program, attempts were made to cover all aspects of the aurora and ensure that no major development or trend had escaped attention. It is hoped that these objectives have been fulfilled.

Some of the earliest research on the aurora was undertaken by Carl Stormer who so kindly consented to join us on this occasion. Later investigations were continued by ottier scientists in Norway, Germany, Switzerland, France, and Great Britain. In recent years, the United States and Canada have entered the field of auroral research and have produced marked progress in this field.

It is very appropriate that this Conference on Auroral Physics be held in the Dominion of Canada which is so favorably located for auroral observations and which is dsing this great geographic advantage to place herself in the forefront of auroral physics. All the papers presented at the conference together with the attendant discussions are included in this volume. Each author and participant has been given the opportunity to review his paper and edit his remarks. Although the majority of revisions were completed by June 1952, compilation difficulties delayed issuance of the Proceedings.

It is hoped that the Proceedings, gathering in one volume a representative and comprehensive report on progress in auroral physics, will serve in several capacities: as a reference volume of completed research, as a guide and stimulus to future investigations, and as a basic text for those who may consider entering this field.

This volume would not have been possible without the cooperation of all authors in reviewing and revising their papers and discussions, and acknowledgment is gratefully made for their painstaking contributions.

The University of Western Ontario is extremely pleased to welcome this first Conference on Auroral Physics. The mere fact that a large group of internationally known physicists are gathered together on our campus to discuss the many problems of the aurora and those factors which influence the aurora, makes us very happy. We hope that tlus conference is a success. We hope that after the official meetings much will be gained, as is always the case, at the informal discussions which follow when people who have known each other only through their scientific writings will have the opportunity of talking with each other. We from the Dominion of Canada are delighted to have the opportunity of playing host to you from other countries in Europe and the United States.

We hope that you will enjoy this little university. Very briefly, we are patterned after the English type of university. We have what is known as the constituent university, that part of the university which includes the college of arts and sciences, the faculty of medicine and several other units. In addition to these constituent components, the university encompasses (the six affiliated colleges. The overall university with its affiliated colleges is quite small, numbering about 4500 students. We have a spirit in our small university which is difficult to obtain in a larger institution. Since we are located in the city of London, Ontario, which has a population of somewhat under a hundred thousand, the university is able to take its place in a very major way in the life of the community and becomes a significant part of that community.

We trust that your visit with us will be a pleasant one and we sincerely hope that you will have a very successful and enjoyable conference.

.

On behalf of the Air Force and the Geophysics Research Directorate of the Air Force Cambridge Research Center, I should like to welcome you to this Conference on Auroral Physics.

The Geophysics Research Directorate, because of its fundamental concern with problems of the terrestrial atmosphere initiated in 1949 a series of conferences dealing with problems of thevarious atmospheric shells. This program began with a Conference on Ionospheric Research at State College,Pennsylvania(1). Although we had originally intended to discuss the statics, dynamics, and mechanisms of the higher atmospheric regions, it soon became apparent during the planning stages of that conference that comparatively little research in these fields was being undertaken in North America. The main topic of theConference on Ionospheric Research then revolved, of necessity, about radio wave propagation and associated problems, the type of research that was then being emphasized.

In 1950 the Geophysics Research Directorate sponsored a second conference. This Conference on Ionospheric Physics (2-3) dealt with the processes, mechanisms, and dynamics of the ionosphere and the meso- sphere. At that time we were able to convoke an international group of scientists all of whom were experts on some phase of the upper atmosphere.

A Colloquium on Mesospheric Physics was later convened in Cambridge, Massachusetts(4). The topics discussed included collisional processes, photochemical reactions, solar-terrestrial relationships, and meso- spheric dynamics. The objective of this Colloquium was to survey existing knowledge of the chemosphere, ionosphere, and mesosphere those atmospheric regions located in the altitude range 30-80 km, 80-100 km, and 400-1000 km respectively.

To us of the Geophysics Research Directorate, the Conference on Auroral Physics represents a contin- uation of the series of conferences designed to foster a better understanding of the earth's atmosphere and stimulate scientific activity in geophysics. The present conference attempts to follow the history of the aurorae from the particles which bombard the atmosphere, to the initiation and maintenance of the visible and ionized aurorae. Through a study of the aurorae, the higher regions of the atmosphere may be examined and the processes occurring within them may be deduced.

In short, we of the Geophysics Research Directorate consider our efforts as a part of a unified whole having as its objective a more detailed and intensive description of the entire atmosphere. Our objectives are clear; the paths, though difficult, are not insuperable.

In a spirit of true scientific endeavor and on behalf of the Air Force Cambridge Research Center, I should like to welcome all of you to (this Conference on Auroral Physics.

1. Underhill, B. B., and R. J. Donaldson (1950); Geophys. Res. Papers, No. 7.
2. Gerson, N. C., and R. J. Donaldson (1952): Geophys. Res. Papers No. 11.
3. Katz, L., and N. C. Gerson (1952): Geophys. Res. Papers, No. 12.
4. Gerson, N. C. (1951): Geophys. Res. Papers, No. 8.

CONTENTS

		Section	Page
		Frontispiece ................................................	ii
		Preface .....................................................	iii
		Address of Welcome .......................................... G. E. Hall	v
		Address of Welcome .......................................... M. Greenberg	vi
		List of Participants ........................................	xxi
I.		INTRODUCTION ................................................ N.C. Gerson	1
II.		OBSERVATIONS OF THE AURORA AND AIRGLOW
	A.	The Aurora
		Protons and the Aurora ...................................... A. B. Meinel	41
		The Intensities of Ultraviolet Features of the Auroral Spectrum W. Petrie and R. Small	61
		The Near-Infrared Spectrum of the Aurora .................... A. B. Meinel	75
		Sunlit Aurorae .............................................. C. Stormer	95
		Radio Wave Reflections from Aurorae ......................... P. A. Forsyth	117
	B.	The Airglow
		Investigation of the Green Line Emission in the Night Airglow D. Barbier, J. Dufay and D. R. Williams	137
		Diurnal Variation of the (0 I) 5577 A Radiation in the Night Airglow F. E. Roach	185
III.		LABORATORY INVESTIGATIONS OF ATMOSPHERIC REACTIONS
		Laboratory Methods of Investigating Processes Important in the High Atmosphere H. S. W. Massey	205
		Laboratory Studies of Auroral Afterglow ....................... L. and R. Herman	221
IV.		INTERPRETATION OF ATMOSPHERIC EMISSIONS
		Excitation of the Spectrum of Molecular Nitrogen in the Laboratory and in the High Atmosphere R. G. Bernard	243
		Intensity Distribution in the Rotation Vibration Spectrum of the OH Molecule H.S. Heaps and G. Herzberg	271
		The Kinetics of Excitation of Molecular Nitrogen and Other Molecules R.W. Nicholls	291
		Atomic and Molecular Processes ................................ D. R. Bates	391
		Identification of Lines and Bands in the Night Airglow and Aurora R. W. B. Pearse	341
V.		GEOMAGNETIC STORMS AND THE AURORA
	A.	Theory of the Aurora Polaris .................................. S. Chapman	367
		Theories of the Aurora ........................................ H. Alfven...................................................... S. Chapman ....................................................	391 391 393
VI.		SOLAR PHENOMENA AND MAGNETO-HYDRODYNAMIC WAVES
		Emission of Corpuscles From the Sun . ......................... K. O. Kiepenheuer	403
		Magneto-Hydrodynamic Waves in the Sun ......................... H. Alfven	415
VII.		ATMOSPHERIC ABSORPTION
		Absorption of Solar Radiation by the Atmosphere ............... A. and E. Vassy	427
VIII.		ADDENDA
		Closing Remarks .................	446
		Author Index ..................................................	447
		Subject Index .................................................	453

LIST OF PARTICIPANTS

A. L. ADEN Geophysics Research Directorate Air Force Cambridge Research Center Cambridge, Massachusetts	R. H. ADLINGTON Department of Physics University of Western Ontario London, Ontario	V. AGY Central Radio Propagation Laboratory Washington, D. C.
H. ALFVEN Department of Electronics The Royal Institute of Technology Stockholm, Sweden	R. L.ALLEN Department of Physics University of Western Ontario London, Ontario	S. ALTSCHULER Department of Physics Iowa State College Ames, Iowa
R. L. BAGLOW David Dunlap Observatory Richmond Hill, Ontario	D. BARBIER Institut D'Astrophysique 98bis Boul. Arago Paris 14ieme, France	F. L. BARTMAN University of Michigan Ann Arbor, Michigan
D. R.BATES The Queen's University Belfast, North Ireland	D. K. BERKEY Colgate University Hamilton, New York	R. BERNARD Institut de Physique Universite de Lyon Lyon, France
J. H. BLACKWELL Department of Physics University of Western Ontario London, Ontario	H. G. BOOKER Cornell University Ithaca, New York	S. BOROWITZ New York University Washington Square New York, New York
K. L. BOWLES Cornell University Ithaca, New York	E. BRANNEN Department of Physics University of Western Ontario London, Ontario	T. R. BURNIGHT Naval Research Laboratory Washington, D. C.
J. F. CARLSON Department of Physics Iowa State College Ames, Iowa	C. CARMICHAEL Waterloo College Waterloo, Ontario	H. CARMICHAEL National Research Council Chalk River, Ontario
R. M. CHAPMAN Geophysics Research Directorate Air Force Cambridge Research Center Cambridge, Massachusetts	S. CHAPMAN Queen's College Oxford, England	B. T. DARLING Physics Department Ohio State University Columbus, Ohio
M. W. FEAST National Research Council Ottawa, Ontario	W. A. FLOOD	P. A.FORSYTH University of Saskatchewan Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
A. W. FOSTER Department of Physics University of Western Ontario London, Ontario	B. FRIEDMAN New York University New York, New York	C. W. GARTLEIN Cornell University Ithaca, New York
N. C. GERSON Geophysics Research Directorate Air Force Cambridge Research Center Cambridge, Massachusetts	J. J. GIBBONS The Pennsylvania State University State College, Pennsylvania	W. L. GODSON Meteorological Service Toronto, Ontario
H. A. HANEMAN	R. J.HAVENS Naval Research Laboratory Washington, D. C.	J.F. HEARD David Dunlap Observatory Richmond Hill, Ontario
L. HERMAN Astrophysical Observatory University of Paris Paris, France	G. HERZBERG National Research Council Ottawa, Ontario	W. R. HOSSACK David Dunlap Observatory Richmond Hill, Ontario
F. R.HUNT Department of Physics University of Western Ontario London, Ontario	D. M. HUNTEN University of Saskatchewan Saskatoon, Saskatchewan	F. S. JOHNSON Naval Research Laboratory Washington, D. C.
J. J. JOSEPHS Boston, Massachusetts	L KATZ Geophysics Research Directorate Air Force Cambridge Research Center Cambridge, Massachusetts	M. KATZIN Naval Research Laboratory Washington, D. C.
E. M. KERNER Detroit, Michigan	H. E. LAGOW Naval Research Laboratory Washington, D. C.	E. R. LAIRD Department of Physics University of Western Ontario London, Ontario
A. LANDON Department of Physics University of Western Ontario London, Ontario	J.LEVINSON Box 811 Alfred, New York	E. A. LEWIS Electronics Research Directorate Air Force Cambridge Research Center Cambridge, Massachusetts
J. E. LOKKEN Department of Physics University of Western Ontario London, Ontario	H. S. W. MASSEY University College London, England	R. J. McGREGOR Department of Physics University of Western Ontario London, Ontario
D. P. McINTYRE Department of Physics University of Western Ontario London, Ontario	A. B. MEINEL Yerkes Observatory University of Chicago Williams Bay, Wisconsin	P. M. MILLMAN Dominion Observatory Ottawa, Ontario
A. D. MISENER Department of Physics University of Western Ontario London, Ontario	C. E. MONTGOMERY Department of Physics University of Western Ontario London, Ontario	H. E. MOSES New York University Washington Square New York, New York
H. W. NEILL University of Michigan Ann Arbor, Michigan	H. E. NEWELL Naval Research Laboratory Washington, D. C.	P. NEWMAN Rome, New York
V. NICHOLS Cornell University Ithaca, New York	R. W. NICHOLLS Department of Physics University of Western Ontario London, Ontario	F. E. NICODEMUS Geophysics Research Directorate Air Force Cambridge Research Center Cambridge, Massachusetts
O. OLDENBERG Lyman Laboratory of Physics Harvard University Cambridge, Massachusetts	N. J. OLIVER Geophysics Research Directorate Air Force Cambridge Research Center Cambridge, Massachusetts	W. C. PARKINSON Washington, D. C.
W. D. PARKINSON Fordham University New York, New York	R. W. B. PEARSE Imperial College London, England	W. PETRIE University of Saskatchewan Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
D. PLEITER Department of Physics University of Western Ontario London, Ontario	J. PRESSMAN Geophysics Research Directorate Air Force Cambridge Research Center Cambridge, Massachusetts	A. QUINTON Department of Physics University of Western Ontario London, Ontario
F. E.ROACH Naval Ordnance Test Station Inyokern, California	K. G. ROBERTS Department of Physics University of Western Ontario London, Ontario	D. C. ROSE National Research Council Ottawa, Ontario
R. K. SAS Department of Scientific and Industrial Research Capetown, South Africa	M. SCHEIN University of Chicago Chicago, Illinois	R. L. SCHRAG .The Pennsylvania State University State College, Pennsylvania
D. SCHULTE Yerkes Observatory University of Chicago Williams Bay, Wisconsin	A. H. SHAPLEY National Bureau of Standards Washington, D. C.	I. A. SIMPSON University of Chicago Chicago, Illinois
G. C. SPRAGUE Cornell University Ithaca, New York	H. S. STEWART Naval Research Laboratory Washington, D. C.	B. STOICHEFF University of Toronto Toronto, Ontario
C. STORMER The University Observatory Oslo, Norway	W. G. STROUD Signal Corps Engineering Laboratories Belmar, New Jersey	S. SYMBALISTY Department of Physics University of Western Ontario London, Ontario
R. S. THAIN Defence Research Board Radio Propagation Laboratory Ottawa, Ontario	J. H. THOMPSON Ottawa, Ontario	S. TREIMAN University of Chicago Chicago, Illinois
R. G. TURNER Department of Physics University of Western Ontario London, Ontario	J. A. VANDERTUIN Geophysics Research Directorate Air Force Cambridge Research Center Cambridge, Massachusetts	A. T. VASSY Physiqne de L'Atmosphere Universite de Paris 1 Quai Branly Paris 7ieme, France
E. VASSY Physique de L'Atmosphere Universite de Paris 1 Quai Branly Paris 7ieme, France	E. H. VESTINE Carnegie Institution of Washington Washington, D. C.	M. E. WARGA University of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
A. H. WAYNICK The Pennsylvania State University State College, Pennsylvania	H. L. WELSH University of Toronto Toronto, Ontario	W. S. WILSON Geophysical Institute University of Alaska College, Alaska
T. Y. WU National Research Council Ottawa, Ontario

E H. VESTINE: One of our senior investigators whom we have long known as Professor Stormer, who, at the age of 77, has made the long journey from Norway to the Dominion of Canada to meet with us here. Professor Stormer, would you like to make some informal remarks on your reactions to the gathering here?

C. STORMER: I should first like to remark that I have never before participated in a conference where so many interesting phenomena in the field of auroral physics have been discussed. It is very important that many different types of scientists meet to hear each other and discuss their research. I think that this is the first real attempt to convene a conference solely on the physics of the aurora. We are extremely gratified and thankful for the privilege of attending this meeting. I am sure that I speak for all of us in expressing our appreciation for the efforts of N. C. Gerson of the Geophysics Research Division and A. D. Misener of the University of Western Ontario in co-sponsoring such a successful conference.

E. H. VESTINE: In closing, a vote of thanks is now proposed to the Physics Department of the University.of Western Ontario and to the Geophysics Research Division of the Air Force Cambridge Research Center. Both institutions have worked very harden effectuating a well-organized conference.

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