Study of the March 31, 2001 magnetic storm effects on the ionosphere using GPS data

Abstract

Despite the fact that much has been learned about the Sun–Earth relationship during disturbed conditions, understanding the effects of magnetic storms on the neutral and ionized upper atmosphere is still one of the most challenging topics remaining in the physics of this atmospheric region. In order to investigate the magnetospheric and ionospheric–thermospheric coupling processes, many researchers are taking advantage of the dispersive nature of the ionosphere to compute total electron content (TEC) from global positioning system (GPS) dual-frequency data. Even though there are currently a large number of GPS receivers in continuous operation, they are unevenly distributed for ionosphere study purposes, being situated mostly in the Northern Hemisphere. The relatively smaller number of GPS receivers located in the Southern Hemisphere and, consequently, the reduced number of available TEC measurements, cause ionospheric modelling to be less accurate in this region. In the work discussed in this paper, the University of New Brunswick Ionospheric Modelling Technique (UNB-IMT) has been used to describe the local time and geomagnetic latitude dependence of the TEC during the March 31, 2001 magnetic storm with an emphasis on the effects in the Southern Hemisphere. Data collected from several GPS networks worldwide, including the Brazilian network for continuous monitoring, have been used along with ionosonde measurements to investigate the global ionospheric response to this severe storm. Data analysis revealed interesting ionospheric effects, which are shown to be dependent on the local time at the storm commencement and the magnetic conditions previous to and during the storm period. The southward turning of the interplanetary magnetic field during the recovery phase of the storm began a process of substorm activity and development and intensification of electrojet activity over broad regions. Observed effects on the ionosphere during that storm are analysed and the mechanisms that gave rise to the ionospheric behaviour are discussed.