Year: 2024
Type: article
Abstract: The continental United States is well instrumented with facilities for mid‐latitude upper atmosphere research that operate on a continuous basis. In addition, citizen scientists provide a wealth of information when unusual events occur. We combine ionospheric total electron content (TEC) data from distributed arrays of GNSS receivers, magnetometer chains, and auroral observations obtained by citizen scientists, to provide a detailed view of the intense auroral breakup and westward surge occurring at the peak of the 10–11 May 2024 extreme geomagnetic storm. Over a 20‐min interval, vertical TEC (vTEC) increased at unusually low latitude (∼45°) and rapidly expanded azimuthally across the continent. Individual receiver/satellite data sets indicate sharp bursts of greatly elevated of vTEC (∼50 TECu). Intense red aurora was co‐located with the leading edge of the equatorward and westward TEC enhancements, indicating that the large TEC enhancement was created by extremely intense low‐energy precipitation during the rapid substorm breakup.
Source: Geophysical Research Letters
DOI: 10.1029/2024gl111981
Language: English
Subfield: Astronomy and Astrophysics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,900
Awards: Collaborative Research: Supersubstorms--Their Driving and Responses in the Magnetosphere, Ionosphere, and Thermosphere, G1523888516, Collaborative Research: ANSWERS: Impacts of Atmospheric Waves and Geomagnetic Disturbances on Quiet-time and Storm-time Space Weather, G338483129, Scientific and Technical Discovery at the Millstone Hill Geospace Facility, G4662576929, Collaborative Research: Flow Channel Control of Substorm Expansion Phase Spatial Coverage and Duration, G6864554860, G7188116400, G7510150469, Collaborative Research: CEDAR--Three-dimensional Large Electron Density Gradients at Mid-latitudes from a TEC-based Ionospheric Data Assimilation system (TIDAS), G8984327907
OpenAlex ID: W4403558769