Temporal evolution analysis of storm-enhanced density during an intense magnetic storm on March 2015

An intense Storm Enhancement Density (SED) event with the magnetic storm occurred on 17–24 March 2015 has been investigated. The morphological character of the SED during different phase of the magnetic storm is examined and compared with the non-storm time. Three intensity indexes, i.e., “general” SED index, “heavy” SED index and “severe” SED index, are defined to represent the intensity of SED respectively represented by the numbers of the ionospheric total electron content (TEC) grids with TEC > 60 TECu, TEC > 80 TECu and TEC > 100 TECu. The temporal evolution of the SED intensity indexes during a time span covering the non-storm time and the magnetic storm time have also been investigated. The SED exhibits a shape with two parallel slender troughs in the middle and low latitudes during the non-storm time and then gradually develops into an ellipse structure as the development of magnetic storm. The intensity of SED and the fluctuation of the TEC evolution are generally corresponding to the fluctuation of Dst index. The analyzing results enrich our understanding of the temporal and spatial evolution of the ionospheric SED.