Ionosphere data assimilation capabilities for representing the high‐latitude geomagnetic storm event in September 2011

Abstract

Severe geomagnetic storms have a strong impact on space communication and satellite navigation systems. Forecasting the appearance of geomagnetically induced disturbances in the ionosphere is one of the urgent goals of the space weather community. The challenge is that the processes governing the distribution of the crucial ionospheric parameters have a rather poor quantitative description, and the models, built using the empirical parameterizations, have limited capabilities for operational purposes. On the other hand, data assimilation techniques are becoming more and more popular for nowcasting the state of the large-scale geophysical systems. We present an example of an ionospheric data assimilation system performance assessment during a strong geomagnetic event, which took place on 26 September 2011. The first-principle model has assimilated slant total electron content measurements from a dense network of ground stations, provided by the Norwegian Mapping Authority. The results have shown satisfactory agreement with independent data and demonstrate that the assimilation model is accurate to about 2-4 total electron content units and can be used for operational purposes in high-latitude regions. The operational system performance assessment is the subject of future work.

Similarity and differences in morphology and mechanisms of the <i>fo</i>F2 and TEC disturbances during the geomagnetic storms on 26–30 September 2011

“…Figure 1 Hairston et al (2013), Wang et al (2013), Kotova et al (2015), Klimenko et al (2015a), Solomentsev et al (2015), and Chen et al (2016).…”

Ionospheric data assimilation with thermosphere‐ionosphere‐electrodynamics general circulation model and GPS‐TEC during geomagnetic storm conditions

“…For example, Solomentsev et al . [] developed an ionospheric assimilation system to perform electron density nowcasting during geomagnetic storm conditions, achieving great improvements in the total electron content (TEC) specification at high latitudes with 2–4 total electron content unit, 1 TECU = 10 16 el m −2 (TECU) accuracy. Another assimilation model developed by Datta‐Barua et al .…”

Ionosphere data assimilation modeling of 2015 St. Patrick's Day geomagnetic storm

“…Solomentsev et al . [] performed GPSTEC assimilation for the September 2011 storm and validated their nowcast results by FORMOSAT‐3/COSMIC. Chartier et al .…”

“…The dense of ground-based GPS networks provides continuous and wide-coverage observations of global total electron content (TEC). Solomentsev et al [2014] performed GPSTEC assimilation for the September 2011 storm and validated their nowcast results by FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC. Chartier et al [2016] and Chen et al [2016] assimilated the GPSTEC observations into a theoretical numerical model (Thermosphere-Ionosphere-Electrodynamics General Circulation Model, TIEGCM) and further evaluated their effects on the storm time ionospheric electron density forecast.…”