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Dayside ionospheric response to recurrent geomagnetic activity during the extreme solar minimum of 2008
Author(s) -
Tulasi Ram S.,
Lei J.,
Su S.Y.,
Liu C. H.,
Lin C. H.,
Chen W. S.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2009gl041038
Subject(s) - ionosphere , earth's magnetic field , atmospheric sciences , solar minimum , electron density , physics , altitude (triangle) , daytime , latitude , geomagnetic storm , middle latitudes , solar cycle , geophysics , electron , solar wind , magnetic field , astronomy , mathematics , geometry , quantum mechanics
Global observations of electron density profiles from the COSMIC satellites are used to investigate, for the first time, the altitudinal dependence of the ionospheric response to the recurrent geomagnetic activity at different latitudinal regions during the extreme solar minimum period of 2008. Our results show that the 9‐day oscillations in N m F2 are out of phase with those in Kp at high latitudes, whereas they are in phase at low‐middle latitudes. This is consistent with changes in neutral composition associated with the recurrent geomagnetic activity. Meanwhile, the 9‐day perturbations in the h m F2 and the thickness parameter (H T ) exhibit good correspondence with the perturbations in Kp from pole to pole, suggesting that the ionospheric response is global and undergoes periodic expansion/contraction. Further, the ionospheric response to the recurrent geomagnetic activity strongly depends on altitude. The density perturbations are generally in phase with Kp above the F2 peak, while they are out of phase around the F2 peak at high latitudes. These changes in electron density at different altitudes are explained by different physical processes, such as photoionization‐chemistry, particle precipitation, and dynamic and diffusion transport.