Identification

Title

A comparison of the effects of CIR- and CME-induced geomagnetic activity on thermospheric densities and spacecraft orbits: Statistical studies

Abstract

Enhanced energy input from the magnetosphere to the upper atmosphere during geomagnetic storms has a profound effect on thermospheric density and consequently near-Earth satellite orbit decay. These geomagnetic storms are caused by two different processes. The first is coronal mass ejections (CMEs) and the second is corotating interaction regions (CIRs). CME-driven storms are characterized by large maximum energy input but relatively short duration, whereas CIR-driven storms have relatively small maximum energy input but are of a considerably longer duration. In this paper we carried out a statistical study to assess the relative importance of each kind of storm to satellite orbital decay. The results demonstrate that CIR storms have a slightly larger effect on total orbital decay than CME storms do in a statistical sense. During the declining phase and the minimum years of a solar cycle, CIR storms occur frequently and quasiperiodically. These storms have a large effect on thermospheric densities and satellite orbits because of their relatively long duration. Thus, it is important to fully understand their behavior and impact.

Resource type

document

Resource locator

Unique resource identifier

code

http://n2t.net/ark:/85065/d7hx1dpd

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

2014-09-01T00:00:00Z

Frequency of update

Quality and validity

Lineage

Conformity

Data format

name of format

version of format

Constraints related to access and use

Constraint set

Use constraints

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