Recent progress in studies of DMSP auroral photographs

A new auroral pattern, which indicates major auroral characteristics in all local time sectors, is presented. It has emerged as a result of extensive study of DMSP-8531 and -10533 auroral photographs. The paper presents also a brief summary of recent studies on the role of the north-south component of the interplanetary magnetic field on large-scale auroral dynamics and on the relationship between substorm energy and the size of the oval.