Størmer began his pioneer research by calculating trajectories for the auroral particles. Through a series of treatises he presented the classics solutions to this problem. In order to explain the large scale motion of the auroral zone, he introduced a ring curren in 1911. His theoretical work was the basic for understanding the later observations of auroral dynamics, cosmic rays and the radiation belts.
Størmer constructed the first useful auroral camera in 1909, needed for precise mapping of the auroral characteristics versus space and time. During four sunspot cycles he took more than 100 000 aural photographs from his net of stations. These parallactic auroral photographs gave not only the heights of individual auroral features, but also their occurrence, location and orientations. Among Størmer’s other fascinating researches, was the discovery of the remarkable properties of sunlit auroras.
Størmer has added many achievements to space physics of lasting importance.