Identification

Title

Investigation of the ΣO/N2 depletion with latitudinally tilted equatorward boundary observed by GOLD during the geomagnetic storm on April 20, 2020

Abstract

A long-lived (>10 hr) O/N-2 column density ratio (Sigma O/N-2) depletion at middle latitudes was observed by the Global-scale Observations of the Limb and Disk (GOLD) during the 20 April 2020 geomagnetic storm. The observed Sigma O/N-2 depletion tilts latitudinally at equatorward boundary with the lowest latitude of similar to 20 degrees N at similar to 75 degrees W, and changes orientation near 75 degrees W, with a north-westward tilt to the west of similar to 75 degrees W and a north-eastward tilt to the east of similar to 75 degrees W. The National Center for Atmospheric Research Thermosphere Ionosphere Electrodynamics General Circulation Model shows the similar Sigma O/N-2 depletion patterns and magnitudes, but the longitudes with the most equatorward were similar to 100 degrees W and moved westward from similar to 100 degrees W to similar to 140 degrees W during the storm recovery period. Horizontal winds play major role in forming this middle-latitude Sigma O/N-2 depletion structure. The strongest equatorward winds in the longitude sector near the magnetic pole resulted in the most equatorward expansion of all longitudes, generating the depletion with latitudinally tilted equatorward boundary. In addition, the high-latitude westward zonal wind and the middle-latitude eastward zonal wind maintained the long existence of this depletion in the GOLD Field of View. The further analysis on neutral winds shows that storm-time meridional winds at middle latitudes in the mid-low thermosphere are mainly dominated by pressure gradient force, while zonal winds are determined primarily by horizontal momentum advection.

Resource type

document

Resource locator

Unique resource identifier

code

https://n2t.org/ark:/85065/d7kk9grb

codeSpace

Dataset language

eng

Spatial reference system

code identifying the spatial reference system

Classification of spatial data and services

Topic category

geoscientificInformation

Keywords

Keyword set

keyword value

Text

originating controlled vocabulary

title

Resource Type

reference date

date type

publication

effective date

2016-01-01T00:00:00Z

Geographic location

West bounding longitude

East bounding longitude

North bounding latitude

South bounding latitude

Temporal reference

Temporal extent

Begin position

End position

Dataset reference date

date type

publication

effective date

2022-12-01T00:00:00Z

Frequency of update

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Conformity

Data format

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Constraints related to access and use

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Use constraints

Copyright 2022 American Geophysical Union.

Limitations on public access

None

Responsible organisations

Responsible party

contact position

OpenSky Support

organisation name

UCAR/NCAR - Library

full postal address

PO Box 3000

Boulder

80307-3000

email address

opensky@ucar.edu

web address

http://opensky.ucar.edu/

name: homepage

responsible party role

pointOfContact

Metadata on metadata

Metadata point of contact

contact position

OpenSky Support

organisation name

UCAR/NCAR - Library

full postal address

PO Box 3000

Boulder

80307-3000

email address

opensky@ucar.edu

web address

http://opensky.ucar.edu/

name: homepage

responsible party role

pointOfContact

Metadata date

2025-07-11T15:56:51.516860

Metadata language

eng; USA