Influence of Extreme Magnetic Storms on the Upper Atmosphere

Wednesday, 13 February 2019
Fountain III/IV (Westin Pasadena)
Yue Deng1, Cheng Sheng1, Qingyu Zhu2, Anthony J Mannucci3, Bruce Tsurutani4 and cheng.sheng@uta.edu, (1)University of Texas Arlington, Arlington, TX, United States, (2)University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX, United States, (3)NASA, Pasadena, CA, United States, (4)NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, United States
Abstract:
Solar and interplanetary events can create extreme magnetic storms, with intensities up to Dst~-2500 nT. The Carrington storm of September 1-2 1859 is one example of an extreme storm. The influence of a Carrington-type storm on the ionosphere and thermosphere has been simulated using a non-hydrostatic Global Ionosphere-Thermosphere Model (GITM). During the extreme geomagnetic storm we simulated, the cross polar cap potential increased by ~300 keV and the hemispheric power increased by 10 times. The variations of both ionosphere and thermosphere in a global range have been examined. In the polar region, the total Joule heating in the polar region was enhanced by 40 times. The neutral temperature increased by 1144K and the density increased by 7 times at 400 km. In the mid- and low-latitudes, the penetration electric field causes a super fountain effect, which significantly changes the electron and neutral densities there. The results will help to determine an upper limit on the geo-effectiveness of ICMEs for various phenomena occurring in geospace.
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