Re-visit of ionosphere storm morphology with TEC data in the current solar cycle

Abstract

This paper addresses the magnetosphere–ionosphere–thermosphere (M–I–T) storm effects, with emphasis on 15 major geomagnetic storms in the current solar cycle as far as May 2015. It is an ionosphere storm response-case analysis based on the vertical total electron content (VTEC) observations at mid-latitude Global Positioning System (GPS) ground-based station HERS (0.33°E, 50.86°N). The time dependent features of ionospheric storms are examined with ∆VTEC defined as the percent change of VTEC during storm time relative to quiet time represented by its monthly median value at the same UT. During a specific event of April 2010 storm, the F2 layer peak electron density (NmF2) data at collocated Chilton (358.67°E, 51.70°N) ionosonde station are used for comparison. The seasonal dependence of the storms is identified and the strength of both positive and negative storms phases is correlated with the intensity of the geomagnetic storms. The focus is on localized characteristics of these solar–terrestrial disturbances and the relative roles of inherent physical and chemical processes that appear to be so changeable from one event to the other generating significant variability in ionospheric responses. The implications of these results for the persistence, certainty and consequently predictability of ionosphric storms are discussed and conclusions drown.