Highlights A CME arrived on 19 December 2015 and caused changes in the ionosphere on 20 and 21. A positive ionospheric storm was seen with longitudinal differences. These are explained as combined effect of DD electric field and composition changes. Morning overshoot in Te showed a response concurrent with the negative storm.

    Abstract This paper investigates the ionospheric storm of December 19–21, 2015, which was initiated by two successive CME eruptions that caused a G3 space weather event. We used the in situ electron density (Ne) and electron temperature (Te) and the Total Electron Content (TEC) measurements from SWARM-A satellite, as well as the O/N2 observations from TIMED/GUVI to study the ionospheric impact. The observations reveal the longitudinal and hemispherical differences in the ionospheric response to the storm event. A positive ionospheric storm was observed over the American, African and Asian regions on 20 December, and the next day showed a negative storm. Both these exhibited hemispheric differences. A positive storm was observed over the East Pacific region on 21 December. It is seen that the net effect of both the disturbance dynamo electric field and composition differences become important in explaining the observed variability in topside ionospheric densities. In addition, we also discuss the Te variations that occurred as a consequence of the space weather event.


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    Title :

    The global response of terrestrial ionosphere to the December 2015 space weather event


    Contributors:

    Published in:

    Advances in Space Research ; 71 , 1 ; 286-297


    Publication date :

    2022-10-15


    Size :

    12 pages




    Type of media :

    Article (Journal)


    Type of material :

    Electronic Resource


    Language :

    English