Systematic movements of aurorae at Halley Bay

All-sky photographs taken at Royal Society Base during the I.G.Y. have been used to determine the movement of individual auroral features, on the assumption of a fixed height of occurrence. The movements are spread over a limited range of directions at any instant. A plot of the hourly mean vector movement reveals a systematic diurnal component, reaching a few hundred metres per second in the easterly and westerly directions. The phase and orientation of this component are compared with the horizontal magnetic disturbance vector averaged over the same period and an association is noted which implies effective transport of negative charge by the aurora.