The story of plumes: the development of a new conceptual framework for understanding magnetosphere and ionosphere coupling

Moldwin, M. B.; Zou, Shasha; Heine, Thomas

doi:10.5194/angeo-34-1243-2016

Cited by 27 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 95 publications

(101 reference statements)

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“…This is supported by Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere, and Climate (COSMIC) observations that saw a factor of 2 increase in topside TEC despite a decrease in n m F 2 . This suggests that irregularities during this storm may extend higher in altitude than the h m F 2 , consistent with Coster et al [] and Yuan et al [] which found that half of SED TEC is found above 800 km, Moldwin et al [] which reviewed the body of literature connecting plasmaspheric and SED plumes, and Yizengaw [] which connected the plasmapause to the midlatitude trough.…”

Section: Irregularity Altitudesupporting

confidence: 85%

Small‐scale structure of the midlatitude storm enhanced density plume during the 17 March 2015 St. Patrick's Day storm

2017

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Kilometer‐scale density irregularities in the ionosphere can cause ionospheric scintillation—a phenomenon that degrades space‐based navigation and communication signals. During strong geomagnetic storms, the midlatitude ionosphere is primed to produce these ∼1–10 km small‐scale irregularities along the steep gradients between midlatitude storm enhanced density (SED) plumes and the adjacent low‐density trough. The length scales of irregularities on the order of 1–10 km are determined from a combination of spatial, temporal, and frequency analyses using single‐station ground‐based Global Positioning System total electron content (TEC) combined with radar plasma velocity measurements. Kilometer‐scale irregularities are detected along the boundaries of the SED plume and depleted density trough during the 17 March 2015 geomagnetic storm, but not equatorward of the plume or within the plume itself. Analysis using the fast Fourier transform of high‐pass filtered slant TEC suggests that the kilometer‐scale irregularities formed near the poleward gradients of SED plumes can have similar intensity and length scales to those typically found in the aurora but are shown to be distinct phenomena in spacecraft electron precipitation measurements.

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Section: Irregularity Altitudesupporting

confidence: 85%

Small‐scale structure of the midlatitude storm enhanced density plume during the 17 March 2015 St. Patrick's Day storm

2017

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“…They also found that the SED plume collocates with either upward or downward field‐aligned currents (FACs) but appears equatorward of the peak of the Region 1 FAC in the dusk convection cell. Moldwin et al (2016) reviewed the recent observation results and possible generation mechanisms of plasmaspheric plume, SED plume, and equatorial plasma plume. Heelis (2017) and Coster et al (2017) classified an SED phenomenon into the midlatitude broad SED with the large spatial feature and the SED plume that expands from a high‐latitude portion of the broad SED toward higher latitudes near local noon.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Temporal and Spatial Variations of Total Electron Content Enhancements During a Geomagnetic Storm on 27 and 28 September 2017

et al. 2020

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Temporal and spatial evolutions of total electron content (TEC) and electron density in the ionosphere during a geomagnetic storm that occurred on 27 and 28 September 2017 have been investigated using global TEC data obtained from many Global Navigation Satellite System stations together with the ionosonde, geomagnetic field, Jicamarca incoherent scatter and Super Dual Auroral Radar Network (SuperDARN) radar data. Our analysis results show that a clear enhancement of the ratio of the TEC difference (rTEC) first occurs from noon to afternoon at high latitudes within 1 hr after a sudden increase and expansion of the high‐latitude convection and prompt penetration of the electric field to the equator associated with the southward excursion of the interplanetary magnetic field. Approximately 1–2 hr after the onset of the hmF2 increase in the midlatitude and low‐latitude regions associated with the high‐latitude convection enhancement, the rTEC and foF2 values begin to increase and the enhanced rTEC region expands to low latitudes within 1–2 hr. This signature suggests that the ionospheric plasmas in the F2 region move at a higher altitude due to local electric field drift, where the recombination rate is smaller, and that the electron density increases due to additional production at the lower altitude in the sunlit region. Later, another rTEC enhancement related to the equatorial ionization anomaly appears in the equatorial region approximately 1 hr after the prompt penetration of the electric field to the equator and expands to higher latitudes within 3–4 hr.

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“…The SED plume has been linked to the plasmaspheric drainage plume (e.g., Foster et al, , , ; Foster & Coster, ; Walsh et al, ; Yizengaw et al, ) and therefore has an important implication on the magnetosphere‐ionosphere coupling (Moldwin et al, ). Though the SED plume is a well‐observed storm‐time ionospheric phenomenon (e.g., Coster et al, ), what physical process that is mainly responsible for producing the plume is still a topic of debate.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Large‐Scale Ionospheric Disturbances During the 17 March 2015 Storm: A Model‐Data Comparative Study

Zakharenkova

Cherniak

et al. 2020

JGR Space Physics

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This paper presents a detailed model-data comparative study of the 17 March 2015 geomagnetic storm using the high-resolution version of the thermosphere-ionosphere-electrodynamic general circulation model and the total electron content observations from a dense global navigation satellite system network. Driven by time-dependent high-latitude ionospheric convection and auroral precipitation inputs, together with an empirically defined subauroral plasma stream (SAPS) field, our simulation reproduce many observed storm-related ionospheric phenomena, including large-scale traveling ionospheric disturbances over Europe, the effects of prompt penetration electric field over South and Central America, and the formation of a storm-enhanced density (SED) plume across the continental United States. Our simulation results reaffirm a number of important characteristics concerning the SED plume: (1) enhanced background ionospheric density is a necessary but not sufficient condition, and enhanced ion drift is required to form the SED plume; (2) the SAPS flow channel does not directly transport the plasma from midnight to postnoon via dusk to form the SED plume, instead, the SED plume is formed at the equatorward and westward edge of the SAPS channel; and (3) the SED plume appears to subcorotate with respect to the Earth.Plain Language Summary Storm-induced ionospheric density variations are a major concern of near-Earth space environment as they could drastically disrupt satellite navigation and telecommunication systems. Although ionospheric disturbances such as traveling ionospheric disturbances (TIDs) and storm-enhanced density (SED) are commonly observed during geomagnetic storms, accurate specification of these phenomena remains a great challenge for geospace models. This paper presents a detailed model-data comparative study of the well-known March 2015 St. Patrick's Day storm. The simulated TIDs and SED structures from the thermosphere-ionosphere-electrodynamic general circulation model (TIEGCM) are compared with the total electron content observations for a dense global navigation satellite system (GNSS) network over Europe, South and Central America, as well as North America. While the model reproduces many observed storm-related ionospheric features, quantitative differences between the simulation results and the GNSS data indicate that further improvements to the TIEGCM (such as a more realistic, self-consistent electrodynamic coupling of the ionosphere and magnetosphere) are required in order to meet the challenges of space weather specification and eventually forecast. This study not only serves a meaningful validation of our numerical model but also sheds some new lights on an apparent paradox concerning the formation of the SED plume. Key Points:• We have carried out a detailed model-data comparison as a way to validate the model outputs • Our simulation results reproduce many observed features, including traveling ionospheric disturbances and the storm-enhanced density plume • Our results shed new lights on th...

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The story of plumes: the development of a new conceptual framework for understanding magnetosphere and ionosphere coupling

Cited by 27 publications

References 95 publications

Small‐scale structure of the midlatitude storm enhanced density plume during the 17 March 2015 St. Patrick's Day storm

Small‐scale structure of the midlatitude storm enhanced density plume during the 17 March 2015 St. Patrick's Day storm

Temporal and Spatial Variations of Total Electron Content Enhancements During a Geomagnetic Storm on 27 and 28 September 2017

Large‐Scale Ionospheric Disturbances During the 17 March 2015 Storm: A Model‐Data Comparative Study

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