Dense Array Imaging SYstem prototype observations of missing auroral scale sizes

This paper gives an overview of the Canadian Dense Array Imaging SYstem (DAISY) and its prototype data. The Dense Array is designed to work as campaign instrumentation and consists of three imagers with differe nt narrow (compared to all-sky view) field-of-view optics. One of the main scientific motivations relates to an earlier stud y by Knudsen et al. (2001) who used All-Sky Imager and TV camera observations to argue that there is a gap in the distri bution of auroral arc widths around 1 km. With DAISY we will be able to show whether the gap is real or an instrumental artifact due to inadequate spatial resolution. If the ga p is real, it would be an important clue in identifying the mechanisms of auroral arc generation. In this paper, we describe and discuss the DAISY imagers and show the width distribution of the auroral structures observed by DAISY prototype. We also compare our findings with the Knudsen et al. (2001) results.