STORM ENHANCE ELECTRON DENSITY I(SED) N THE IONOSPHERE

Ionospheric storm enhanced density (SED) has been extensively investigated using Total Electron Content (TEC) deduced from GPS ground and satellite-borne receivers.  However, dayside in-situ electron density measurements have not been analyzed in detail for SEDs yet.   We report in-situ electron density measurements of a SED event in the northern hemisphere (NH) at the noon meridian plane measured by the CHAMP polar-orbiting satellite at about 390 km altitude during the 20 November 2003 magnetic storm.   The CHAMP satellite measurements render rare documentation about the dayside SED’s life cycle at a fixed magnetic local time through multiple passes.  Solar wind drivers triggered the SED onset and controlled its lifecycle through its growth and retreat phases. 

REFERENCES

Lin, C. S., Sutton, E. K., Wang, W., Cai, X., Liu, G., Henney, C. J., & Cooke, D. L. (2022). Satellite in situ electron density observations of the midlatitude storm enhanced density on the noon meridional plane in the F region during the 20 November 2003 magnetic storm. Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics, 127, e2021JA029831. https://doi.org/10.1029/2021JA029831 [pdf file]