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GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS, VOL. 26, NO. 15, PAGES 2339–2342, 1999

Ionospheric Mass Ejection in Response to a CME

T. E. Moore

NASA GSFC, Greenbelt, MD, USA.


W. K. Peterson

LMATC, Palo Alto, CA, USA.


C. T. Russell

ESS, U. of CA, Los Angeles, CA, USA


M. O. Chandler

NASA MSFC, Huntsville, AL, USA.


M. R. Collier

NASA GSFC, Greenbelt, MD, USA.


H. L. Collin

LMATC, Palo Alto, CA, USA.


P. D. Craven

NASA MSFC, Huntsville, AL, USA.


R. Fitzenreiter

NASA GSFC, Greenbelt, MD, USA.


B. L. Giles

NASA GSFC, Greenbelt, MD, USA.


C. J. Pollock

SwRI, San Antonio, TX, USA.


Abstract

We report observations of a direct ionospheric plasma outflow response to the incidence of an interplanetary shock and associated coronal mass ejection (CME) upon the earth’s magnetosphere. Data from the WIND spacecraft, 185 RE upstream, document the passage of an interplanetary shock at 23:20 UT on 24 Sept. 1998. The polar cap plasma environment sampled by the POLAR spacecraft changed abruptly at 23:45 UT, reflecting the compressional displacement of the geopause relative to the spacecraft. POLAR left the polar wind outflow region and entered the mantle flows. Descending toward the dayside cusp region, POLAR later returned from the mantle to an enhanced polar wind flux dominated by O+ plasma and eventually containing molecular ions. The enhanced and O+ − dominated outflow continued as the spacecraft passed through the high altitude cleft and then the southern cleft at lower altitude. Such a direct response of the ionosphere to solar wind dynamic pressure disturbances may have important impacts on magnetospheric dynamics.

Received 17 January 1999; accepted 14 May 1999.


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Citation: Moore, T. E., W. K. Peterson, C. T. Russell, M. O. Chandler, M. R. Collier, H. L. Collin, P. D. Craven, R. Fitzenreiter, B. L. Giles, and C. J. Pollock (1999), Ionospheric Mass Ejection in Response to a CME, Geophys. Res. Lett., 26(15), 2339–2342.