HR: 1340h
AN: SA43A-1067    [Abstracts]
TI: GUVI/TIMED Observations of the auroral inputs and thermospheric response during the October and November 2003 Superstorms
AU: * Zhang, Y
EM: yongliang.zhang@jhuapl.edu
AF: The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, 11100 Johns Hopkins ROad, Laurel, MD 20723 United States
AU: Paxton, L J
EM: larry.paxton@jhuapl.edu
AF: The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, 11100 Johns Hopkins ROad, Laurel, MD 20723 United States
AU: Kozyra, J U
EM: jukozyra@engin.umich.edu
AF: University of Michigan, Space Research Building 2455 Hayward Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48109 United States
AU: DeMajistre, R
EM: robert.demajistre@jhuapl.edu
AF: The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, 11100 Johns Hopkins ROad, Laurel, MD 20723 United States
AU: Kil, H
EM: hyosub.kil@jhuapl.edu
AF: The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, 11100 Johns Hopkins ROad, Laurel, MD 20723 United States
AU: Morrison, D
EM: danny.morrison@jhuapl.edu
AF: The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, 11100 Johns Hopkins ROad, Laurel, MD 20723 United States
AU: Wolven, B
EM: brian.wolven@jhuapl.edu
AF: The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, 11100 Johns Hopkins ROad, Laurel, MD 20723 United States
AU: Brandt, P C
EM: pontux.brandt@jhuapl.edu
AF: The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, 11100 Johns Hopkins ROad, Laurel, MD 20723 United States
AU: Mitchell, D G
EM: donald.mitchell@jhuapl.edu
AF: The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, 11100 Johns Hopkins ROad, Laurel, MD 20723 United States
AU: Talaat, E
EM: elsayed.talaat@jhuapl.edu
AF: The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, 11100 Johns Hopkins ROad, Laurel, MD 20723 United States
AB: The GUVI instrument on the NASA TIMED Mission observes the ionosphere and thermosphere as well as the auroral inputs. In this paper we explore the connection between the geospace environment and the Earth's atmosphere - in particular we follow the particle chain. We report evidence between a direct coupling between the ring current and the upper atmosphere. Observations by GUVI show rapid (~hour) increases in the 1356 A brightness over all latitude in the nightside ionosphere. The increases are simultaneous with substorm injections observed by the High Energy Neutral Atom (HENA) imager on board the IMAGE satellite. These observations suggest that energetic (10-100 keV) Oxygen atoms, produced by charge exchange of the O+ in the ring current, precipitate directly from the ring current region onto the upper atmosphere. The local solar time dependent distribution of the neutrals is also altered by the deposition of electrons and protons, energized in the magnetosphere, at auroral latitudes. The aurora extended well below 40 deg north latitude at times. We compare the average quiet-time behavior of the upper atmosphere, as derived from GUVI observations, to that observed during these storms. We find that there are very large depletions in atomic oxygen that extend nearly to the magnetic equator. These O depletions, which should result in a negative ionospheric storm, are also observed in GPS TEC measurements. We also find evidence for localized O density enhancements and/or the uplift of the ionosphere by the neutral winds and electric fields which lead to a positive ionospheric storm. We also will show results from our studies of the ionosphere: we compare the seasonal distribution of the ionosphere (its total density, peak density, and peak height) for quiet and disturbed conditions. Our model simulations indicate that we are seeing a direct manifestation of the role of the storm induced winds and penetration electric fields in the Earth's upper atmosphere.
DE: 2431 Ionosphere/magnetosphere interactions (2736)
DE: 2455 Particle precipitation
DE: 2704 Auroral phenomena (2407)
DE: 2784 Solar wind/magnetosphere interactions
DE: 0310 Airglow and aurora
SC: SPA-Aeronomy [SA]
MN: 2004 AGU Fall Meeting