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Response of GOLD Retrieved Thermospheric Temperatures to Geomagnetic Activities of Varying Magnitudes
Author(s) -
Laskar F. I.,
Eastes R. W.,
Codrescu M. V.,
Evans J. S.,
Burns A. G.,
Wang W.,
McClintock W. E.,
Aryal S.,
Cai X.
Publication year - 2021
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 - 10.1029/2021gl093905
Subject(s) - thermosphere , earth's magnetic field , noon , atmospheric sciences , latitude , forcing (mathematics) , environmental science , daytime , middle latitudes , geomagnetic latitude , climatology , ionosphere , geology , geophysics , physics , geodesy , magnetic field , quantum mechanics
Global‐scale Observations of Limb and Disk (GOLD) disk measurements of far ultraviolet molecular nitrogen band emissions are used to retrieve temperatures ( T d i s k ), which are representative of lower thermospheric altitudes. The present investigation studies the response of lower thermospheric temperatures to geomagnetic activities of varying magnitudes. In this study, it has been observed that T d i s kincreases over all latitudes in response to enhanced geomagnetic activity. The increase in temperature is proportional to the strength of the geomagnetic activity and is greater at higher latitudes. Temperature enhancements vary from 10s to 100s of Kelvins from low‐ to mid‐latitudes. Local time behavior shows that pre‐noon enhancements in temperatures, during relatively stronger geomagnetic activities, are greater compared to afternoon, which may be caused by the combined action of daytime dynamics and geomagnetic forcing. This study, thus, demonstrates the utility of GOLD T d i s kwhen investigating the effects of dynamical and external forcings in the thermosphere.