The Earth’s magnetosphere response to interplanetary medium conditions on January 21–22, 2005 and on December 14–15, 2006

The Earth’s magnetosphere response to interplanetary medium conditions on January 21–22, 2005 and on December 14–15, 2006 has been studied. The analysis of solar wind parameters measured by ACE spacecraft, of geomagnetic indices variations, of geomagnetic field measured by GOES 11, 12 satellites, and of energetic particle fluxes measured by POES 15, 16, 17 satellites was performed together with magnetospheric modeling based in terms of A2000 paraboloid model. We found the similar dynamics of three particle populations (trapped, quasi-trapped, and precipitating) during storms of different intensities developed under different external conditions: the maximal values of particle fluxes and the latitudinal positions of the isotropic boundaries were approximately the same. The main sources caused RC build-up have been determined for both magnetic storms. Global magnetospheric convection controlled by IMF and substorm activity driven magnetic storm on December 14–15, 2006. Extreme solar wind pressure pulse was mainly responsible for RC particle injection and unusual January 21, 2005 magnetic storm development under northward IMF during the main phase.     

Geoeffectiveness of interplanetary shocks controlled by impact angles: A review

The high variability of the Sun’s magnetic field is responsible for the generation of perturbations that propagate throughout the heliosphere. Such disturbances often drive interplanetary shocks in front of their leading regions. Strong shocks transfer momentum and energy into the solar wind ahead of them which in turn enhance the solar wind interaction with magnetic fields in its way. Shocks then eventually strike the Earth’s magnetosphere and trigger a myriad of geomagnetic effects observed not only by spacecraft in space, but also by magnetometers on the ground. Recently, it has been revealed that shocks can show different geoeffectiveness depending closely on the angle of impact. Generally, frontal shocks are more geoeffective than inclined shocks, even if the former are comparatively weaker than the latter. This review is focused on results obtained from modeling and experimental efforts in the last 15?years. Some theoretical and observational background are also provided.     

Geomagnetic activity indicators for geomagnetically induced current studies in South Africa

Intense geomagnetic activity is known to give rise to large geomagnetically induced currents (GICs) in power transmission grids. Recordings of geomagnetic activity provide an efficient and economical way for power transmission system operators to assess GIC risks in retrospective studies. This study investigates local geomagnetic indicators (i.e., hourly peak value, hourly range indicator and hourly standard deviation) in order to determine their usefulness for understanding the drivers of GICs in the South African power network. Results show that the GICs have a higher correlation with the geomagnetic indicators derived from the East–West component of the horizontal geomagnetic field, than the indicators derived from the North–South component of the horizontal field. This directional dependence corresponds very well with the North–South orientation of the power lines feeding the power transformers at the South African Grassridge electrical substation GIC site. It therefore follows that, the geoelectric field driving the GICs at Grassridge is North–South oriented. Further, it is shown that the hourly range indicator has a higher correlation with the GICs than the hourly standard deviation for this particular network configuration.     

Empirical model of the TEC response to the geomagnetic activity over the North American region

The paper presents an empirical model of the total electron content (TEC) response to the geomagnetic activity described by the K_p-index. The model is built on the basis of TEC measurements covering the region of North America (50°W–150°W, 10°N–60°N) for the period of time between October 2004 and December 2009. By using a 2D (latitude-time) cross-correlation analysis it is found that the ionospheric response to the geomagnetic activity over the considered geographic region and at low solar activity revealed both positive and negative phases of response. The both phases of the ionospheric response have different duration and time delay with respect to the geomagnetic storm. It was found that these two parameters of the ionospheric response depend on the season and geographical latitude. The presence of two phases, positive and negative, of the ionospheric response imposed the implementation of two different time delay constants in order to properly describe the two different delayed reactions. The seasonal dependence of the TEC response to geomagnetic storms is characterized by predominantly positive response in winter with a short (usually ∼5–6 h) time delay as well as mainly negative response in summer with a long (larger than 15 h) time delay. While the TEC response in March and October is more close to the winter one the response in April and September is similar to the summer one.     

Effect of geomagnetic disturbances on physiological parameters: An investigation on aviators

Over the last years the potential effect that the geomagnetic activity may have on human physiological parameters (such as heart rate, arterial diastolic and systolic pressure) is being widely investigated with irrefutable results. As it is suggested, human health can be affected by solar activity and related geophysical changes. In this study a group of 4018 Slovak aviators was examined from January 1, 1994 to December 31, 2002, covering periods with high solar and geomagnetic activity. Specifically, medical data of mean values of arterial diastolic and systolic blood pressure, which were registered during the medical examinations of the Slovak aviators, were related to daily variations of Dst and Ap geomagnetic indices. All subjects were men (from 18 to 60 years old) in good health. Statistical significance levels (p-values) of the effect of geomagnetic activity on the aforementioned parameters up to three days before and three days after the geomagnetic event were established using the statistical method ANalysis Of VAriance (ANOVA). Statistical analysis of the arterial blood pressure variations for different levels of geomagnetic activity revealed that geomagnetic changes are connected to variations of the human physiological parameters.     

Geomagnetic pulsation over conjugate locations during geomagnetic storms and substorm

Geomagnetic data collected during magnetic storm over magnetically conjugate pair (according to IGRF 2000) of high latitude stations viz., Maitri (70° 45′ S, 11° 42′ E) and Tromso (69° 40′ N, 18° 56′ E) reveal that amplitudes of Pc6 pulsation characteristically differ. The amplitude obtained from horizontal magnetic field for the Pc6 pulsation frequency range between 0.6 and 1.6 mHz significantly differs in time corresponding to peak amplitude. The relative differences in its time of occurrence found to gradually increase around initial phase of storm and remain exactly out of phase at peak amplitude of storm. Thence, it is found to be in agreement in phase gradually until storm unwinds. This indicates that simultaneous amplitude of Pc6 pulsation at conjugate pair of stations and its time of occurrence could be a key factor to infer storm arrivals somewhat prior to its peak effects. The emphasize remains on prediction of storm arrivals only by utilizing ground based magnetometer observations. However, it is necessary to understand differences on the basis of weak, moderate, strong, and super strong cases and more exactly how they behave along the line of magnetic Meridian. Nevertheless, the analysis implies that geo-effective magnetic ejecta/clouds/CIRs/sheaths/CMEs/ICMEs giving rise to geomagnetic storm can be predicted ahead of its peak effects by having magnetometer data over conjugate locations.     

磁暴期间的地磁导航精度分析

地磁导航是无源自主导航技术研究的新方向. 分析了地磁导航的基本原理, 描述了典型磁暴过程, 并针对地磁导航在磁暴环境中的适用性进行了研究. 在采用曲面样条方法对实测地磁场数据建立观测模型的基础上, 结合广义卡尔曼滤波方法讨论了磁暴不同阶段对地磁导航精度造成的影响. 分别采用理论典型磁暴数据以及实测磁暴数据进行仿真, 仿真结果表明, 在磁暴的初相、恢复相的中后时段以及中等强度以下的磁暴全过程仍然可以采用地磁来进行导航定位, 导航精度在200 m以内, 满足飞行器中程制导的精度要求.     

Variations of Thermosphere Density Based on Joint Analysis of In-Situ Measurement Data From Shenzhou Spacecrafts

Based on the measurements made by Atmospheric Density Detectors (ADDs) onboard Chinese spacecraft Shenzhou 2-4, the variations of thermosphere density are revealed. During the quiet period, the density at spacecraft altitude of 330～410km exhibited a dominant diurnal variation, with high value on dayside and low value on nightside. The ratio of the diurnal maximum density to the minimum ranged from 1.7 to 2.0. The ratio shows a positive correlation with the level of solar activity and a negative correlation with the level of geomagnetic activity. When a geomagnetic disturbance comes, the atmospheric density at the altitude of 330～410km displayed a global enhancement. For a strong geomagnetic disturbance, the atmospheric density increased by about 56%, and reached its maximum about 6～7 hours after the geomagnetic disturbance peak. The density asymmetry was also observed both in the southern and northern hemisphere during the geomagnetic disturbance peak.     

F2层对地磁扰动的响应

利用37个电离层垂直探测站1974-1986年的数据,采用f0F2与地磁ap指数相关分析的方法,首次得到一个太阳活动周期各年东亚-澳大利亚扇区,欧洲-非洲扇区和美洲-东太平洋扇区F2层对地磁扰动响应随地磁纬度的分布.结果指出,地磁高纬和中纬地区为负响应,低纬和赤道地区为正响应,大约在±30°附近换向.最大正响应在磁赤道附近,最大负响应在地磁纬度±50°附近,最大负响应的幅度大于最大正响应的幅度.存在明显的经度差别和南北半球不对称性.     

第24太阳活动周中国地区电离层闪烁统计特性研究

利用第24太阳活动周中国多个地区GNSS电离层闪烁监测站数据,统计分析中国中低纬地区电离层闪烁特性.结果显示：电离层闪烁主要发生在春秋分及夜间20：00—02：00LT时段;在28°N以南地区,纬度越低电离层闪烁强度和发生概率越高;电离层闪烁发生概率与太阳活动呈正相关,太阳活动上升年电离层闪烁发生概率高于下降年;不同强度地磁活动条件下,电离层闪烁均可能发生,且与地磁活动强度整体呈负相关.通过研究电离层闪烁统计特性,可以为电离层闪烁机理的深入研究、预报及工程应用提供参考.