Energy and power requirements of the global thermosphere during the magnetic storm of November 10, 2004

Abstract

We used Poynting fluxes and densities ρ ¯ to investigate the stormtime thermosphere on November 10, 2004. Thermospheric energy, E th which is derived from ρ ¯ , consists of two sources, solar ultraviolet radiation ( E th UV) and the solar wind ( E th SW). Responses of E th SW to interplanetary driving suggest that the thermosphere can be described by the equation d E th SW/d t= αε VS−( E th SW/ τ), where ε VS represents the electric field; α and τ are constants. We show that: (1) E th SW is three times the ring-current energy; (2) αε VS is comparable with model predictions; (3) signatures of equatorward propagating disturbances were detected in neutral density profiles.