Flare location on the solar disk: Modeling the thermosphere and ionosphere response

Abstract

Solar flare enhancements to the soft X‐ray (XUV) and extreme ultraviolet (EUV) spectral irradiance depend on the location of the flare on the solar disk. Most emission lines in the XUV region (∼0.1 to ∼25 nm) are optically thin and are weakly dependent on the location of the flare, but in the EUV region (∼25 to ∼120 nm), many important lines and continua are optically thick, so enhancements are relatively smaller for flares located near the solar limb, due to absorption by the solar atmosphere. The flare irradiance spectral model (FISM) was used to illustrate these location effects, assuming two X17 flares that are identical except that one occurs near disk center and the other near the limb. FISM spectra of these two flares were used as solar input to the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) thermosphere‐ionosphere‐mesosphere electrodynamics general circulation model (TIME‐GCM) to investigate the ionosphere/thermosphere (I/T) response. Model simulations showed that in the E region ionosphere, where XUV dominates ionization, flare location does not affect I/T response. However, flare‐driven changes in the F region ionosphere, total electron content (TEC), and neutral density in the upper thermosphere, are 2–3 times stronger for a disk‐center flare than for a limb flare, due to the importance of EUV enhancement. Flare location did not affect the timing of the ionospheric response, but the thermospheric response was ∼20 min faster for the disk‐center flare. Model simulations of I/T responses to an X17 flare on 28 October 2003 were consistent with measurements of TEC and neutral density changes.