Penetrating Electric Field With/Without Disturbed Electric Fields During the 7–8 July 2022 Geomagnetic Storm Simulated by MAGE and Observed by ICON MIGHTI
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Penetrating and disturbed electric fields develop during geomagnetic storms and are effective in driving remarkable changes in the nightside low latitude ionosphere over varying time periods. While the former arrive nearly instantaneously with the changes in the solar wind electric field, the latter take more time, requiring auroral heating to modify upper atmospheric winds globally, leading to changes in the thermospheric wind dynamo away from the auroral zones. Such changes always differ from the quiet time state where the winds are usually patterned after daytime solar heating. We use the Multiscale Atmosphere‐Geospace Environment model (MAGE) and observations from the NASA Ionospheric Connection Explorer (ICON) mission to investigate both during the 7–8 July 2022 geomagnetic storm event. The model was able to simulate the penetrating and disturbed electric fields. The simulations showed enhanced westward winds and the wind dynamo induced upward ion drift confirmed by the ICON zonal wind and ion drift observations. The simulated zonal wind variations are slightly later in arrival at the low latitudes. We also see the penetrating electric field opposes or cancels the disturbed electric field in the MAGE simulation.
DOI: 10.1029/2024ja033240
Language: English
Subfield: Astronomy and Astrophysics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
Awards: G1275415351, SUBAURORAL POLARIZATION STREAMS (SAPS) ARE A LATITUDINALLY NARROW BAND OF HIGH-SPEED PLASMA DRIFTS OCCURRING MOSTLY IN THE AFTERNOON TO MIDNIGHT SECTOR. THEY ARE LOCATED IN A REGION THAT IS JUST OUTSIDE OF THE AURORAL OVAL OF ELECTRON PRECIPITATION WHERE THE DOWNWARD REGION-2 CURRENTS FROM THE INNER MAGNETOSPHERE FLOW THROUGH THE LOW IONOSPHERIC CONDUCTIVITY REGION OF MIDDLE LATITUDE PLASMA DENSITY TROUGH AND ARE CLOSED BY THE UPWARD REGION-1 CURRENTS TO THE MAGNETOSPHERE IN THE AURORAL OVAL. THIS REGION IS THUS THE DYNAMIC INTERFACE OF DIFFERENT REGIMES OF THE COUPLED MAGNETOSPHERE IONOSPHERE THERMOSPHERE (M-I-T) SYSTEM. COMPLEX PHYSICAL PROCESSES OF DIFFERENT TEMPORAL AND SPATIAL SCALES OCCUR IN THIS REGION. A FULL DESCRIPTION OF THE FUNDAMENTAL PHYSICAL PROCESSES THAT GOVERN THE OCCURRENCE CHARACTERISTICS VARIATIONS AND EFFECTS OF SAPS IS STILL ELUSIVE AND CHALLENGING BECAUSE IT REQUIRES A SYSTEMATIC APPROACH INVOLVING HIGH-RESOLUTION FIRST PRINCIPLES SIMULATIONS AND COMPREHENSIVE OBSERVATIONS OF THE ENTIRE M-I-T SYSTEM. THESE MODELING AND OBSERVATIONAL CAPABILITIES HAVE NOT BEEN AVAILABLE UNTIL RECENTLY. HERE WE PROPOSE TO EXPLORE AND UNDERSTAND THESE PHYSICAL PROCESSES THEIR CHANGES WITH SOLAR WIND AND GEOPHYSICAL CONDITIONS AND THEIR EFFECTS ON THE M-I-T SYSTEM THROUGH NUMERICAL SIMULATIONS AND MODEL-DATA COMPARISONS. THIS GOAL WILL BE ACHIEVED BY ADDRESSING THE FOLLOWING SCIENTIFIC QUESTIONS: 1) HOW DO SAPS CHANGE WITH SOLAR WIND AND GEOPHYSICAL CONDITIONS? 2) WHAT ARE THE EFFECTS OF SAPS ON THE GLOBAL I-T SYSTEM? 3) WHAT ARE THE FEEDBACK EFFECTS OF THE I-T CHANGES DURING SAPS EVENTS ON M-I COUPLING AND THE MAGNETOSPHERE?, G1944752761, G2822371562, G293059490, Exploring the Tropical Atmosphere with Advanced Radio Occultation: Processing, Serving, and Analyzing Radio Occultation Data to Advance Atmospheric Science, G3120085729, Collaborative Research: CEDAR: Searching for the Strongest Thermospheric Wind and Highest Temperature inside Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancements, G3465988454, G3481798643, G3746634629, G3764589897, G382785754, G3994111646, DURING INTERVALS OF INCREASED GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY THE INTENSITIES OF RELATIVISTIC ELECTRONS TRAPPED IN EARTH'S RADIATION BELTS VARY BY ORDERS OF MAGNITUDE. ELEVATED LEVELS OF ELECTRON RADIATION CAN DAMAGE AND DISABLE SATELLITES. TO MITIGATE HAZARDOUS RADIATION EFFECTS IT IS NECESSARY TO QUANTIFY AND PREDICT RADIATION BELT ENHANCEMENT EVENTS. WHILE MANY INDIVIDUAL MECHANISMS OF ELECTRON ACCELERATION AND LOSS HAVE BEEN IDENTIFIED THE NET EFFECT OF ALL PROCESSES ACTING IN CONCERT IS NOT UNDERSTOOD BECAUSE NO UNIFIED PHYSICS-BASED MODEL EXISTS IN WHICH ALL OF THESE EFFECTS ARE INCLUDED. THE PRIMARY GOAL OF THIS PROPOSAL IS TO PROVIDE A DATA-CONSTRAINED MODELING CAPABILITY FOR PREDICTION OF THE NEAR-EARTH RADIATION ENVIRONMENT INCLUDING ITS DYNAMIC VARIABILITY IN RESPONSE TO DIFFERENT SOLAR WIND DRIVING. OUR MODEL INCORPORATES ALL KEY ELECTRON ACCELERATION AND LOSS MECHANISMS BY COMBINING A SELF-CONSISTENT DESCRIPTION OF GLOBAL ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELDS THAT DRIVE CONVECTION AND RADIAL TRANSPORT WITH AN EMPIRICAL SPECIFICATION OF HIGH-FREQUENCY PLASMA WAVES THAT PRODUCE LOCAL ACCELERATION AND LOSS. GLOBAL EVOLUTION OF RADIATION BELT INTENSITIES IS CALCULATED WITH A TEST-PARTICLE APPROACHED WITH TIME-DEPENDENT INITIAL CONDITIONS SPECIFIED BY AN EMPIRICAL MODEL BASED ON A COMBINATION OF STATISTICS AND NEAR-REALTIME SPACECRAFT MEASUREMENT. SUCH GLOBAL DATA-DRIVEN SPECIFICATION OF RADIATION BELT INTENSITIES OVER THE FULL RAGE OF SPATIOTEMPORAL SCALES IS TIMELY AND POSSIBLE DUE TO NEW UNPRECEDENTED DATASETS (VAN ALLEN PROBES AND THEMIS) RECENT PROGRESS IN MODELING CAPABILITIES AND THE GROWTH OF COMPUTATIONAL POWER., IT IS WELL KNOWN THAT THERMOSPHERIC WINDS ARE ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT PARAMETERS FOR UNDERSTANDING THE IONOSPHERE. THE TIMED TIDI INSTRUMENT WAS DESIGNED TO OBSERVE THE THERMOSPHERIC WINDS HOWEVER DUE TO LIGHT LEAK AND ICE FORMATION ON THE CAMERA THE THERMOSPHERIC WIND DATA FROM TIDI INSTRUMENT WERE NOT SCIENTIFICALLY USEFUL DUE TO LARGE UNCERTAINTIES. AFTER MORE THAN 10 YEARS IN ORBIT HOWEVER THE TIDI INSTRUMENT HAS LOST SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF THE ICE DUE TO SUBLIMATION. CONSEQUENTLY THE THERMOSPHERIC WIND DATA HAVE IMPROVED AND MAY BE USEFUL FOR SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH. GIVEN THERE IS NO OTHER LIMB-SCAN THERMOSPHERIC WIND INSTRUMENT AT THE MOMENT THE TIDI THERMOSPHERIC WINDS CAN BE A SIGNIFICANT VALUE TO THE COMMUNITY AND FUTURE ICON MISSION. TO EXTRACT THE THERMOSPHERIC WIND FROM THE DATA AN ACCURATE INSTRUMENT FUNCTION IS NECESSARY. DUE TO LOSE OF ICE THE TIDI INSTRUMENT FUNCTION NEEDS TO BE MODIFIED. THE ADDITIONAL FUNDING FOR THE TIDI WORK AT NCAR (ADDITIONAL $20K TO THE $10K ANNUAL BUDGET DURING THE FIRST YEAR) WILL COVER THE EFFORT TO (1) IMPROVE THE INSTRUMENT FUNCTION (2) CALCULATE THE THERMOSPHERIC WINDS (3) COMPARE THE THERMOSPHERIC WINDS WITH NCAR TIEGCM MODEL TO DEMONSTRATE THE WINDS ARE CONSISTENT WITH THERMOSPHERIC DYNAMICS AND CAN BE USED FOR SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH. THIS EFFORT WILL LEAD TO A FUTURE GI PROPOSAL FOR TIDI THERMOSPHERIC WIND RELATED TO RESEARCH., G4517545052, G4517988519, G4672550800, G4723881931, G5439982340, G6687768181, G7021961745, G7896376814, G7977157539, G8201607002, G8879778120, G8924287671, G8963087954
OpenAlex ID: W4409228666