Prompt effects of solar wind variations on the inner magnetosphere and midlatitude ionosphere
Abstract
It is well known that the solar wind can significantly affect high-latitude ionospheric dynamics. However, the effects of the solar wind on the middle- and low-latitude ionosphere are much less studied. In this paper, we report observations that large perturbations in the middle- and low-latitude ionosphere are well correlated with solar wind variations. In one event, a significant (20–30%) decrease of the midlatitude ionospheric electron density over a large latitudinal range was related to a sudden drop in the solar wind pressure and a northward turning of the interplanetary magnetic field, and the density decrease became larger at lower latitudes. In another event, periodic perturbations in the dayside equatorial ionospheric E × B drift and electrojet were closely associated with variations in the interplanetary electric field. Since the solar wind is always changing with time, it can be a very important and common source of ionospheric perturbations at middle- and low-latitudes. The relationship between solar wind variations and significant ionospheric perturbations has important applications in space weather.
Description
Date
2005
Keywords
Solar wind , Electric field , Ionospheric density perturbations
Citation
Huang, C., Foster, J. C., Yumoto, K., Chau, J. L., & Veliz, O. (2005). Prompt effects of solar wind variations on the inner magnetosphere and midlatitude ionosphere. Advances in Space Research, 36 (12), 2407-2412. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asr.2003.09.069
Collections
Loading...
Publisher
Elsevier