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Abstract The Starlink satellites launched on 3 February 2022 were lost before they fully arrived in their designated orbits. The loss was attributed to two moderate geomagnetic storms that occurred consecutively on 3–4 February. We investigate the thermospheric neutral mass density variation during these storms with the Multiscale Atmosphere‐Geospace Environment (MAGE) model, a first‐principles, fully coupled geospace model. Simulated neutral density enhancements are validated by Swarm satellite measurements at the altitude of 400–500 km. Comparison with standalone TIEGCM and empirical NRLMSIS 2.0 and DTM‐2013 models suggests better performance by MAGE in predicting the maximum density enhancement and resolving the gradual recovery process. Along the Starlink satellite orbit in the middle thermosphere (∼200 km altitude), MAGE predicts up to 150% density enhancement near the second storm peak while standalone TIEGCM, NRLMSIS 2.0, and DTM‐2013 suggest only ∼50% increase. MAGE also suggests altitudinal, longitudinal, and latitudinal variability of storm‐time percentage density enhancement due to height dependent Joule heating deposition per unit mass, thermospheric circulation changes, and traveling atmospheric disturbances. This study demonstrates that a moderate storm can cause substantial density enhancement in the middle thermosphere. Thermospheric mass density strongly depends on the strength, timing, and location of high‐latitude energy input, which cannot be fully reproduced with empirical models. A physics‐based, fully coupled geospace model that can accurately resolve the high‐latitude energy input and its variability is critical to modeling the dynamic response of thermospheric neutral density during storm time.
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Energy Deposition by Mesoscale High‐Latitude Electric Fields Into the Thermosphere During the 26 October 2019 Geomagnetic Storm
Abstract Mesoscale high‐latitude electric fields are known to deposit energy into the ionospheric and thermospheric system, yet the energy deposition process is not fully understood. We conduct a case study to quantify the energy deposition from mesoscale high‐latitude electric fields to the thermosphere. For the investigation, we obtain the high‐latitude electric field with mesoscale variabilities from Poker Flat Incoherent Scatter Radar measurements during a moderate geomagnetic storm, providing the driver for the Global Ionosphere and Thermosphere Model (GITM) via the High‐latitude Input for Mesoscale Electrodynamics framework. The HIME‐GITM simulation is compared with GITM simulations driven by the large‐scale electric field from the Weimer model. Our modeling results indicate that the mesoscale electric field modifies the thermospheric energy budget primarily through enhancing the Joule heating. Specifically, in the local high‐latitude region of interest, the mesoscale electric field enhances the Joule heating by up to five times. The resulting neutral temperature enhancement can reach up to 50 K above 200 km altitude. Significant increase in the neutral density above 250 km altitude and in the neutral wind speed are found in the local region as well, lagging a few minutes after the Joule heating enhancement. We demonstrate that the energy deposited by the mesoscale electric field transfers primarily to the gravitational potential energy in the thermosphere.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1821135
- PAR ID:
- 10390660
- Publisher / Repository:
- DOI PREFIX: 10.1029
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics
- Volume:
- 127
- Issue:
- 12
- ISSN:
- 2169-9380
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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