Comprehensive Analysis of the Ionospheric Response to the 2015 Geomagnetic Storms over Different Station

Abstract

The fundamental problem of ionospheric physics lies in understanding and modeling the ionosphere’s dependence on solar activity. This challenge encompasses such as Variables across Solar Cycles, Response to Solar Flares and CMEs, Daily and Seasonal Effects, Spatial Variability and long term prediction models. This dependency on solar activity helps provide information that is fundamental to comprehend the changes in the ionosphere and its processes. In this work, the ionospheric critical frequency foF2 and electron density are applied to characterize large-scale ionosphere responses during the 2015 geomagnetic storm. Using data from the International Reference Ionosphere (IRI-2016 model), an empirical standard model of the Ionosphere, this work tries to construct a correspondence between the solar activity and the change in the Ionosphere’s characteristics across three different stations at different altitudes. It has been observed that the electron density decreases from (1.098E + 12 to 7.844E + 11) for low latitude, (6.358E + 11 to 3.650E + 11.) for mid latitude and (4.765E + 11 to 2.740E + 11) for high latitude on the day of the solar event. A similar decrease in foF2 by 40% - 70% can also be seen for the three different stations on the geomagnetic storm day.