92nd American Meteorological Society Annual Meeting (January 22-26, 2012)

Tuesday, 24 January 2012: 2:15 PM
Assimilation of Storm-Time Auroral Nme and Equatorward Boundary in IRI
Room 252/253 (New Orleans Convention Center )
Yongliang Zhang, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, MD; and L. J. Paxton, D. Bilitza, and H. Kil

Precipitating energetic electrons and ions in the auroral region are the dominant source of high latitude E-region ionosphere density especially during magnetic storms. The size and location of the auroral oval strongly affect the dynamics of sub-auroral ionosphere. We use data from satellite based far-ultraviolet (FUV) auroral images to determine the peak E-region density (NmE) and equatorward boundary (EB). The auroral NmE and EB are assimilated in IRI in near real-time. During geomagnetic storms, the total energy flux (hemispheric power) of precipitating electrons increases and the auroral oval expands to lower latitude. The enhanced particle heating (as well Joule heating) alters the thermosphere and ionosphere at the auroral and sub-auroral latitudes. We will show examples of storm-time auroral boundary and associated behavior of ionosphere (e.g. TEC from IRI and GPS) at sub-auroral latitude.

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