Superposed epoch analysis of storm time response of the ionosphere-thermosphere (IT) system

Abstract:

The thermosphere-ionosphere system response to energy input by Joule heating via Poynting flux and auroral precipitation is strongly intensified during times with high geomagnetic activity or during geomagnetic storms. The most dramatic thermospheric response is the intensification and upwelling of the thermospheric mass density. The neutral mass density is not only a key parameter to understanding the solar wind - IT coupling, but also plays an important role in understanding satellite orbital drag, which in turn impacts satellite position predictions. Results of numerical simulations and satellite observations (CHAMP and GRACE) have shown that the neutral mass density is rapidly intensified (within minutes) after the initial storm shock impact and also after the onset of storm main phase. This almost immediate response is typical of CME-driven storms in which the neutral density is enhanced first in the dayside polar cap and the intensification subsequently spreads out to all magnetic local time regions and lower latitude regions. We perform a superposed epoch analysis using CHAMP and GRACE satellite data as well as DMSP data to study the spatial and temporal distribution of the measured Poynting flux and neutral density response during the main phase of storms of different intensity. We also examine the correlation characteristics between Poynting flux and neutral density response, in space and time during the storm.