Ionosphere over eastern North Atlantic midlatitudinal zone during geomagnetic storms
This article belongs to the Special Issue Ionospheric and Magnetic Signatures of Space Weather Events at Middle and Low Latitudes: Experimental Studies and Modelling (2nd Edition). The ionospheric response at middle latitudes to geomagnetic storms is not yet very well understood. Total electron cont...
| Published in: | Atmosphere |
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| Main Authors: | , , , , |
| Other Authors: | , , |
| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute
2023
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10261/337628 https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos14060949 |
| Summary: | This article belongs to the Special Issue Ionospheric and Magnetic Signatures of Space Weather Events at Middle and Low Latitudes: Experimental Studies and Modelling (2nd Edition). The ionospheric response at middle latitudes to geomagnetic storms is not yet very well understood. Total electron content (TEC) variations associated with eight strong geomagnetic storms between 2015 and 2022 obtained from GNSS receivers in the eastern area of the North Atlantic (Portuguese continental and insular territory) are studied in an attempt to fill this gap. It was found that for most of the studied geomagnetic storms, TEC variations are synchronous for the longitudinal ranges from 27° W and 9° W. In the southern part of the studied region (around 32° N), the amplitude of TEC variations is, in general, significantly higher than in the northern part (around 39° N). Some of the studied geomagnetic storms were associated with TEC variations that we interpret as effects of post-sunset equatorial plasma bubbles that travelled well north from their habitual region. Additionally, though most of the studied storms were accompanied by reports on different kinds of malfunction of GNSS systems (GPS; GALILEO and other), there is no clear pattern in their appearance in dependence on the geomagnetic/ionospheric storms’ strength, commencement time, and its characteristics, in general. IA is supported by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT, Portugal) through the research grants UIDB/04434/2020 and UIDP/04434/2020. This study is a contribution to the PRIME project (EXPL/CTA-MET/0677/2021, FCT, Portugal) and JP is supported by this project. The PITHIA-NRF project has received funding from European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement no. 101007599. Peer reviewed |
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