Open AccessFirst successful prediction of a convective equatorial ionospheric storm using solar wind parameters
Author(s) -
Kelley M. C.,
Retterer J.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
space weather
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.254
H-Index - 56
ISSN - 1542-7390
DOI - 10.1029/2007sw000381
Subject(s) - ionosphere , space weather , thunderstorm , storm , meteorology , solar wind , environmental science , geomagnetic storm , atmospheric sciences , climatology , physics , geophysics , geology , plasma , quantum mechanics
One of the major challenges of the National Space Weather Program in the United States is to predict the generation of intense turbulence in the equatorial and low‐latitude ionosphere. We term this a convective equatorial ionospheric storm since, much like a thunderstorm, low‐density media erupt upward, releasing stored gravitational energy. This is an important phenomenon since both communication and navigational systems can be severely affected by the associated turbulence. Here, for the first time, we use solar wind data obtained upstream of the Earth and a physics‐based assimilative model to successfully predict such an event during a strong magnetic storm in November 2004.