GPS detection of the instantaneous response of the global ionosphere to strong magnetic storms with sudden commencement

Abstract

Using a new technology for global GPS detection of ionospheric disturbances, GLOBDET, it has been established that a drastic increase in the time derivative of the magnetic field strength during magnetic storms is accompanied by an almost simultaneous decrease in mid-latitude total electron content on the entire dayside. The corresponding correlation coefficient is not below -0.8; the delay with respect to the time of a magnetic storm sudden commencement is about 3-10 min. This is most pronounced for magnetic storms with a well-marked sudden storm commencement. The sudden storm commencements presented in the paper were observed during the initial storm phase. The analysis reported here was made for a set of from 90 to 300 GPS stations for 10 days in 1998-2001 with a different level of geomagnetic activity (Dst from -6 nT to -295 nT, and K p from 0 to 9). The «simultaneous» total electron content response for the events under consideration was 0.1-0.4 TECU, and the travel velocity of the disturbance from the dayside to the nightside was in the order of 10-20 km/s. Results obtained are consistent with earlier ionospheric parameter measurements obtained using high temporal resolution methods.