In this study, multiple data sets from Beidou geostationary orbit satellites total electron contents (TECs), ionosonde, meteor radar, magnetometer, and model simulations have been used to investigate the ionospheric responses in the Asian‐Australian sector during the September 2017 geomagnetic storm. It was found that long‐duration daytime TEC enhancements that lasted from 7 to 12 September 2017 were observed by the Beidou geostationary orbit satellite constellation. This is a unique event as the prominent TEC enhancements persisted during the storm recovery phase when geomagnetic activity became quiet. The Thermosphere‐Ionosphere Electrodynamics Global Circulation Model predicted that the TEC enhancements on 7–9 September were associated with the geomagnetic activity, but it showed significant electron density depletions on 10 and 11 September in contrast to the observed TEC enhancements. Our results suggested that the observed long‐duration TEC enhancements from 7 to 12 September are mainly associated with the interplay of ionospheric dynamics and electrodynamics. Nevertheless, the root causes for the observed TEC enhancements seen in the storm recovery phase are unknown and require further observations and model studies.
Storm time development of equatorial plasma bubbles (EPBs) around the meridian 120°E/60°W during early September 2017, when the Bz component of interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) experienced two large southward excursions, producing a strong geomagnetic storm that included two main phase decreases, was investigated. The observations from networks of Global Navigation Satellite Systems total electron content receivers, very high frequency radars, and ionosondes operated around the meridian reveal that in the American and Asian sectors, intense EPB irregularities developed and extended to dip latitudes of ~30°N and 46°N, respectively, following rapid sunset F layer height rises during two episodes of strong southward IMF Bz excursions. The storm‐enhanced EPB irregularities, however, were not observed following the sunset terminator in the Pacific sector, where the sunset rise of F layer was not detected. More interestingly, the EPBs in the Asian sector were observed to drift toward the west, with velocity increasing from ~30 m/s at low latitude to ~95 m/s at middle latitude. The poleward increasing westward drifts drove the formation of west‐titled structure of irregularities. For the EPBs in the American sector, no apparent west‐tilted structure was detected. The results indicate that the prompt penetration undershielding electric fields (PPEF) of eastward polarity resulting from the two IMF Bz southward excursions dominated the generation of postsunset EPBs in the American and Asian sectors, respectively. The westward drifts of PPEF‐induced EPBs in the Asian sector could be attributed dominantly to disturbance westward wind, with a possible contribution to it arising from the PPEF.
17 September 2024 in Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics