| Administrative History | Aurora observers were sent worksheets for completion from Edinburgh University. Worksheets included advice on how to accurately record auroral activity. Observers were requested to make nightly observations, noting down each night whether an aurora could be seen or whether cloud prevented decisions being made as to whether an aurora was taking place. Auroral sighting summaries issued by the Edinburgh Office of the Air Ministry Meteorological Office regularly appear in this series. |
| Description | Observations were chiefly made from the United Kingdom, Eire, France, Canada (air observations), the Netherlands, Poland and Denmark. Observation sheets from Belgium appear in most of the files but sightings of aurorae by observers in Belgium were rare.
Several types of tabular worksheets regularly feature in the series: one for photographic aurora observations, worksheets for land and meteorological station observations, worksheets for aircraft observations and worksheets for marine observations.
- The photographic aurora observation worksheet provides columns for the following information: date, times of exposure (on and off), plate exposure number, reference star, general description (form, intensity, position and details) and conditions at the time.
- The land and meteorological station observation worksheets changed style several times over this period. Most versions request the following information: date, period of time, geomagnetic latitude and longitude, whether an aurora is present, whether sky conditions prevent the observer from being able to see if there is an aurora, and details regarding elevation, form and the level of brightness at changes in the appearance of aurorae.
- Worksheets for aircraft and marine observations provide columns for the following details: the position of the aircraft/ ship, time of observation, whether an aurora is present, whether sky conditions prevent the observer from being able to see if there is an aurora, and aurora details such as auroral forms, changes, positions, brightness and colour. Aircraft worksheets from 1964 requested diagrams of auroras to be drawn in addition to written data.
EPs are found throughout this collection. These are summaries created by Balfour Stewart Auroral Laboratory staff of all descriptions of aurorae sent to the laboratory. There are also LDs. These tabular forms were completed by observers. The forms provided observers with space to describe their auroral sightings in detail. The LDs cover the following details: date, sector, zone, place, cloud oktas, time, 'A' (whether an aurora is definitely present or not, and whether it is flaming or pulsating), form, brightness, colour, elevation ('h' - lowest height of arc, and 'top' - height at top of arc), remarks and 'z' (zone of overhead occurence). EPs and LDs are found in folders labelled 'A' and are also often present in folders with the terms 'B', 'A-West' and 'details' included in their labels.
Also in the series: observer correspondence (often addressed to James Paton) and constellation diagrams. Several general greeting letters addressed from Paton to Aurora Survey observers are present in this series; the first of which can be seen in the 1953 file. |
| Arrangement | Original arrangement and classification terms maintained. The observations in each file are arranged principally by month. Within this division there are folders for land and meteorological office observations. These are predominantly made in the United Kingdom and Eire, and mainly arranged by dipole geomagnetic latitude zone. International observations from land, sea and air are divided into folders according to sector (groups of geomagnetic longitude such as 060/ 070, 080, 090, 100 or 120, for instance). Folders labelled 'A' contain a mixture of detailed and brief accounts of aurora sightings. These arrangements were created by David Gavine at the University of Edinburgh shortly before the collection was deposited at the University of Aberdeen. |