Global storm time plasma redistribution imaged from the ground and space

Thomas J. Immel, John C. Foster, Anthea J. Coster, Stephen B. Mende, 
and Harold U. Frey


The bulk redistribution of plasma in the near-Earth space environment during the
onset and main phase of a magnetic storm has been observed on a global scale
with 2-minute resolution using Far-Ultraviolet images from the NASA-IMAGE
satellite and ground-based total electron content (TEC) maps using Global
Positioning Satellite (GPS) receivers. The dynamic variations under the storm
conditions show a redistribution of plasma away from the nominal low-latitude
location of the equatorial ionospheric anomalies, resulting in peak nightside
ionospheric densities at middle latitudes. A zonal redistribution of plasma is
also evident, as the plasma is depleted across the Atlantic sector, while TEC
values grow in the Caribbean sector to the largest values on the nightside. The
ground-based GPS measurements provide 24-hour observations of TEC, while the FUV
measurements provide nightside observation with greater spatial resolution,
continuous over land and sea. The complimentary observations are shown to have a
very good correspondence, promising new analyses of storm time plasma
redistribution with high temporal and spatial resolution and greatly improved
global coverage. 

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Geophysical Research Letters, 32, L03107, doi:10.1029/2004GL021120, 2005