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Creators/Authors contains: "Evans, J_S"

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  1. Abstract The Global‐scale Observations of Limb and Disk (GOLD) and Sounding of the Atmosphere using Broadband Emission Radiometry (SABER) instruments were used to investigate the thermospheric composition and temperature responses to the geomagnetic storm on 23–24 April, 2023. Global‐scale Observations of Limb and Disk observed a faster recovery of thermospheric column density ratio of O to N2(ΣO/N2) in the southern hemisphere (SH) after the storm ended at 12 Universal time (UT) on 24 April. After 12 UT on 25 April, ΣO/N2had mostly recovered in both hemispheres. Global‐scale Observations of Limb and Disk also observed an increase of middle thermospheric temperature (140–200 km) (Tdisk) on 24 April with a maximum of 340 K. Within 4–6 hr of the storm ending on 24 April, Tdisk enhancement persisted between 30°N and 60°N, 100°W and 30°W, while Tdisk lower than pre‐storm quiet day (17 April) was observed between 45°W and 15°W, 40°S and 50°N. Tdisk recovered between 100°W and 45°W, 30°N and 55°S. On 25 April, Tdisk was lower than on 17 April across the entire GOLD Field‐of‐Regard (FOR) by ∼50–110 K. Additionally, solar irradiance decreased by 15%–20% from 17 to 25 April, indicating that the lower Tdisk on 25 April resulted from both storm and solar irradiance variations. Latitudinal variations of Tdisk and the SABER observed Nitric Oxide (NO) cooling rate revealed that NO cooling is crucial for the lower Tdisk in the northern hemisphere (NH) mid‐high latitudes on 25 April. These results provide direct evidence of decreased thermospheric temperature during storm recovery phase than pre‐storm quiet times. 
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  2. Abstract Geomagnetic storms transfer massive amounts of energy from the sun to geospace. Some of that energy is dissipated in the ionosphere as energetic particles precipitate and transfer their energy to the atmosphere, creating the aurora. We used the Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms (THEMIS) mosaic of all‐sky‐imagers across Canada and Alaska to measure the amount of energy flux deposited into the ionosphere via auroral precipitation during the 2013 March 17 storm. We determined the time‐dependent percent of the total energy flux that is contributed by meso‐scale (<500 km wide) auroral features, discovering they contribute up to 80% during the sudden storm commencement (SSC) and >∼40% throughout the main phase, indicating meso‐scale dynamics are important aspects of a geomagnetic storm. We found that average conductance was higher north of 65° until SYM‐H reached −40 nT. We also found that the median conductance was higher in the post‐midnight sector during the SSC, though localized conductance peaks (sometimes >75 mho) were much higher in the pre‐midnight sector throughout. We related the post‐midnight/pre‐dawn conductance to other recent findings regarding meso‐scale dynamics in the literature. We found sharp conductance peaks and gradients in both time and space related to meso‐scale aurora. Data processing included a new moonlight removal algorithm and cross‐instrument calibration with a meridian scanning photometer and a standard photometer. We compared ASI results to Poker Flat Incoherent Scatter Radar (PFISR) observations, finding energy flux, mean energy, and Hall conductance were highly correlated, moderately correlated, and highly correlated, respectively. 
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