Solar flare effects at Ebre: Unidimensional physical, integrated model

Abstract

A great increase of the ionizing radiation during solar flares results in an immediate increase of the ionization production rate, electron densities and electric currents in the ionosphere, followed simultaneously by disturbances of the magnetic elements at ground level (solar flare effects (sfe)). In this paper an attempt is made to model sfe phenomena combining several semiempirical models derived from satellite and radar data obtained during the last two decades. The model allows us to quantify model values of the phase difference between the sfe and Sq vectors, for comparison to the measurable quantity. It explains the cause of the change in magnetic perturbation during a flare at Ebre Observatory (40.8° latitude N, 0.5° longitude E). Large phase shift of the magnetic vector observed before noon, result from a descent of the “center of gravity” of the conducting mass that, combined with a very different regime of neutral winds in the lower and in the middle parts of the dynamo region, produce a change in the direction of the integrated currents.