SA31D-2373
The impacts of the St. Patrick's Day superstorm on selected technologies

Wednesday, 16 December 2015
Poster Hall (Moscone South)
Brett A Carter1, Endawoke Yizengaw2, Chin S Lin3, Rezy Pradipta4, Robert Norman5, Tzupang Tseng6, James Bennett7, Rebecca L Bishop8, James M Weygand9, Matthew Francis10, Michael B Terkildsen10, Keith M Groves11, Ronald G Caton12, Nitin Tripathi13 and Kefei Zhang14, (1)RMIT University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia, (2)Boston College, Institute for Scientific Research, Boston, United States, (3)Retired, Washington, DC, United States, (4)Boston College, Institute for Scientific Research, Chestnut Hill, MA, United States, (5)RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia, (6)NCU National Central University of Taiwan, Jhongli, Taiwan, (7)Space Environment Research Centre, Canberra, Australia, (8)Aerospace Corporation Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States, (9)University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States, (10)IPS Radio and Space Services, Haymarket, Australia, (11)Boston College/Inst Sci Res, Chestnut Hill, MA, United States, (12)Air Force Research Laboratory, Tijearas, NM, United States, (13)Asian Institute of Technology, Klong Luang, Thailand, (14)RMIT Univ, Melbourne, Australia
Abstract:
In the past, significant research efforts have been directed towards understanding how severe geomagnetic storms affect the near-Earth space environment. From this research, we have learned that many technologies are affected by these severe space weather events. The 2015 St. Patrick's Day geomagnetic storm has provided a great opportunity to analyze three selected space weather phenomena that adversely impact modern technologies; (1) Geomagnetically Induced Currents (GICs), (2) increased thermospheric mass density, and (3) the occurrence of Equatorial Plasma Bubbles (EPBs).

The serious effects of GICs on power grids in the high-latitude regions is well known. Recent research has indicated that the equatorial region is also susceptible to increased GIC activity due to the equatorial electrojet. Thus, an examination of the equatorial magnetometer data during the St. Patrick's Day storm will be presented.

It is also well understood that during geomagnetic storms, the thermospheric mass density at a given altitude increases due to the increase in Joule heating in the high-latitude regions. As a consequence of this, low-Earth orbiting satellites and space debris experience increased atmospheric drag. Changes in atmospheric drag causes orbits to be perturbed, resulting in less accurate orbit predictions. An investigation of the orbits of several low-Earth orbiting satellites will be presented and discussed in the context of collision avoidance, as part of the ongoing space debris problem.

Finally, Equatorial Plasma Bubbles (EPBs) are a common phenomenon in the nighttime low-latitude ionosphere. EPBs are known to cause random fluctuations (i.e., scintillations) in the amplitude and phase of trans-ionospheric radio signals. While EPBs have been reported during both geomagnetically quiet and disturbed periods, research clearly indicates that the occurrence of EPBs is dependent on the geomagnetic activity level. The occurrence of EPBs around the world will be presented using data from both ground- and space-based EPB detection platforms. The results will be interpreted in the context of the disturbed ionosphere-thermosphere state and the subsequent impacts on the Generalized Rayleigh-Taylor plasma instability during the St. Patrick's Day storm.

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