Dynamical effects of geomagnetic storms and substorms in the middle‐latitude ionosphere: An observational campaign

Abstract

An observational campaign was conducted in October 1992 for ∼36 hours, at three high‐ to low‐latitude sites near 75°W longitude (Sondre Stromfjord, Millstone Hill, and Arecibo). Vector plasma drift velocities are obtained using the incoherent scatter radar technique at each site. Neutral winds were measured using a Fabry‐Perot interferometer, and 6300 Å airglow structures were imaged at the midlatitude site. Electric fields and meridional winds for the period were perturbed when magnetic storms and substorms occurred on the day and night of the campaign. The penetration of magnetospheric electric field and the following interplays between ionospheric electrodynamics and thermospheric wind perturbations in the midlatitude ionosphere are assessed using the multidiagnostic measurements. Evidence for traveling atmospheric disturbances (TADs) and large‐scale gravity waves induced by auroral heating effects upon the thermosphere is identified. Diffuse aurora and a stable aurora red (SAR) arc were observed from Millstone Hill during the night of the campaign. The SAR arc moved southward when there were westward electric field perturbations, indicating plasmasphere compression in the postmidnight sector under substorm conditions. The SAR arc location was used to infer the motion of the magnetospheric shielding layer past the Millstone Hill site. Ionospheric F region disturbances in hmF2, NmF2, and total electron content were driven by the observed dynamics, exhibiting a complex mix of wind and electric field perturbations. While standard model episodes of penetration and shielding/overshielding occurred during the daytime event, such unambiguous clarifications were far less obvious during the nighttime event. This is perhaps due to the prolonged period of moderate geomagnetic activity that served as the background conditions for the substorms that occurred during the campaign.