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Global thermosphere-ionosphere response to onset of 20 November 2003 magnetic storm
Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, Texas, USA
Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, Texas, USA
School of Computational Sciences, George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia, USA
Computational Physics Inc., Springfield, Virginia, USA
Johns Hopkins University, Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, Maryland, USA
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA
Northrop Grumman Corporation, Corporate Headquarters, Los Angeles, California, USA
Johns Hopkins University, Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, Maryland, USA
Applied Research Laboratory, University of Texas of Austin, Austin, Texas, USA
National Center for Atmospheric Research, High Altitude Observatory, Boulder, Colorado, USA
Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, Texas, USA
University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas, USA
There is great interest in understanding how the thermosphere-ionosphere system responds to geomagnetic storms. New insights are possible using the new generation of fully coupled three-dimensional models, together with extensive ionospheric databases. The period of postsolar maximum geomagnetic storms in October and November 2003 were some of the largest storms ever recorded. In this paper, we explore how the thermosphere-ionosphere system responded to the onset of the 20 November 2003 geomagnetic storm, using the NCAR TIMEGCM. The model simulates dramatic changes in the thermospheric equatorward winds, O/N2, and corresponding ionospheric electron densities. The model is used as a framework to interpret an increase in the observed ionospheric total electron content, and F region electron density, in the European and North African sector, in terms of changes in the neutral gas. Corresponding compositional effects observed by the GUVI instrument on the TIMED satellite lend credence to the model results. We describe some of the important physical processes that will affect planning for the utilization of measurements from the Geospace investigations in NASA's Living With a Star Program. The study illustrates the value of measuring both the neutral and ionized gases, of obtaining quasi-global views from imaging instruments, and the synergy between satellite data, ground-based measurements, and models.
Received 3 November 2005; accepted 17 July 2006; published 18 October 2006.
Citation: (2006), Global thermosphere-ionosphere response to onset of 20 November 2003 magnetic storm, J. Geophys. Res., 111, A10S18, doi:10.1029/2005JA011518.
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