High- and middle-latitude neutral mesospheric density response to geomagnetic storms

• Published in: Geophysical Research Letters
• Main Authors: Yi, W., Reid, I., Xue, X., Murphy, D., Hall, C., Tsutsumi, M., Ning, B., Li, G., Younger, J., Chen, T., Dou, X.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: American Geophysical Union 2018
• Subjects: Davis Station; Davis-Station; Svalbard; Tromsø
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2440/112261; https://doi.org/10.1002/2017GL076282

Published online 12 JAN 2018 We report the first observations of a high‐ and middle‐latitude neutral mesospheric density response to geomagnetic storms. Interhemisphere mesospheric densities are estimated using data from meteor radars at Davis Station (68.6°S, 77.9°E), Svalbard (78.3°N, 16°E) and Tromsø (69.6°N, 19.2°E), which are located under the auroral zone; the Mohe (53.5°N, 122.3°E), and Beijing (40.3°N, 116.2°E) meteor radars, located in northern midlatitudes, and the Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) on the Aura satellite. Both case studies and a superposed epoch analysis indicate that geomagnetic storms can significantly influence mesospheric density, causing a greater than ~10% decrease in the auroral zones and a ~5% decrease at higher midlatitudes. With such large changes, it is reasonable to suspect that geomagnetic storms influence the dynamics of the high and middle latitudes mesosphere. Wen Yi, Iain M. Reid, Xianghui Xue, Damian J. Murphy, Chris M. Hall, Masaki Tsutsumi, Baiqi Ning, Guozhu Li, Joel P. Younger, Tingdi Chen, and Xiankang Dou