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REVIEW article
Front. Astron. Space Sci.
Sec. Space Physics
Volume 11 - 2024 |
doi: 10.3389/fspas.2024.1471140
This article is part of the Research Topic Frontier Research in Equatorial Aeronomy and Space Physics View all 3 articles
Recent results and outstanding questions on the response of the electrodynamics of the low latitude ionosphere to solar wind and magnetospheric disturbances
Provisionally accepted- 1 Center for Atmospheric and Space Sciences, Utah State University, Logan, UT, United States
- 2 Space Weather Technology, Research, and Education Center, University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, Colorado, United States
- 3 Space and Atmospheric Sciences Division, Physical Research Laboratory, Navrangpura, Ahmedabad, India
Storm-time ionospheric electrodynamics effects have been the subject of extensive studies. The solar wind/magnetosphere/ionosphere and thermosphere disturbance wind dynamos have long been identified as the main drivers of low latitude storm-time electrodynamics. Extensive detailed studies showed that climatology of low latitude disturbance electric fields and currents is in good agreement with results from global theoretical and numerical models. Over the last decade, however, numerous studies have highlighted that the response of low latitude electrodynamics to enhanced geomagnetic activity is significantly more complex than previously considered. It is now clear that the electrodynamic disturbance processes are affected by a larger number of solar wind and magnetospheric parameters that they and also have more significant spatial dependence. This is especially pronounced during and after large geomagnetic storms when multiple simultaneous disturbance processes are also active. In this work, we briefly review the main past experimental and modeling studies of low latitude disturbance electric fields, highlight new results, discuss outstanding questions, and present suggestions for future studies.
Keywords: Geomagnetic storms and substorms, magnetospheric effects on low latitude ionosphere, electrodynamics response to solar wind disturbances, electrodynamics response to magnetospheric disturbances, Low latitude ionosphere
Received: 26 Jul 2024; Accepted: 27 Aug 2024.
Copyright: © 2024 Fejer, Navarro and Chakrabarty. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Bela Fejer, Center for Atmospheric and Space Sciences, Utah State University, Logan, UT, United States
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