Geomagnetic storm effects in the low‐ to middle‐latitude upper thermosphere

Abstract

In this paper, we use data from the Dynamics Explorer 2 (DE 2) satellite and a theoretical simulation made by using the National Center for Atmospheric Research thermosphere/ionosphere general circulation model (NCAR‐TIGCM) to study storm‐induced changes in the structure of the upper thermosphere in the low‐ to middle‐latitude (20°‐40°N) region of the winter hemisphere. Our principal results are as follows: (1) The winds associated with the diurnal tide weaken during geomagnetic storms, causing primarily zonally oriented changes in the evening sector, few changes in the middle of the afternoon, a combination of zonal and meridional changes in the late morning region, and mainly meridional changes early in the morning. (2) Decreases in the magnitudes of the horizontal winds associated with the diurnal tide lead to a net downward tendency in the vertical winds blowing through a constant pressure surface. (3) Because of these changes in the vertical wind, there is an increase in compressional heating (or a decrease in cooling through expansion), and thus temperatures in the low‐ to middle‐latitudes of the winter hemisphere increase. (4) Densities of all neutral species increase on a constant height surface, but the pattern of changes in the O/N2 ratio is not well ordered on these surfaces. (5) The pattern of changes in the O/N2 ratio is better ordered on constant pressure surfaces. The increases in this ratio on constant pressure surfaces in the low‐ to middle‐latitude, winter hemisphere are caused by a more downward tendency in the vertical winds that blow through the constant pressure surfaces. Nitrogen‐poor air is then advected downward through the pressure surface, increasing the O/N2 ratio. (6) The daytime geographical distribution of the modeled increases in the O/N2 ratio on a constant pressure surface in the low‐ to middle‐latitudes of the winter hemisphere correspond very closely with those of increases in the modeled electron densities at the F2 peak.