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Ionospheric response to an intense solar flare in equatorial and low latitude region

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Abstract

Multi-instrument data recorded at multi-stations are used to study the equatorial and low-latitude ionospheric response to an intense solar flare of class X7 (2B) in the current solar cycle 24 with the peak at 08:05 UT on 09 August 2011. Rapid changes in ionospheric total electron contents (TEC) measured by global positioning system (GPS) showed an enhancement of 2–3 TECU. The very low frequency (VLF) data recorded at a low latitude station Varanasi showed an enhancement of VLF signal amplitude during the solar flare period which is attributed to the sudden enhancement of D-region ionization. Ground based GPS measurements are also validated by analyzing the electron density profiles measured from COSMIC satellite mission. COSMIC-derived electron density profile shows a decrease below F2 peak altitude and increase above F2 peak. The D-region ionospheric perturbation observed during the solar flare could be caused by flare time enhanced level of photo-ionization due to X-ray flux enhancement, whereas for E and F-region ionosphere, enhanced EUV flux causes photo-ionization and hence perturbed the TEC.

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Acknowledgements

This work is partially supported by UGC, New Delhi under MRP program. The authors would like to express their gratitude to the National Space Organization (NSPO) and the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) in Taiwan for the availability of FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC constellation data and the International GNSS Service (IGS) for making available RINEX files. COSMIC data from the website: www.cosmic.ucar.edu. X-ray flux data from the website: www.ngdc.noaa.gov and EUV data from the website: http://www.usc.edu/dept/space_science/sem_data/sem_data.html. We are also thankful to IIG Mumbai to provided magnetometer data (website: http://wdciig.res.in/WebUI/Home.aspx). International GNSS Service (IGS) from www.igs.org. This work is partially supported by ISRO, Bangalore under ISRO-SSPS program. Vishnu S. Rathore is thankful to UGC, New Delhi to provide fellowship. Authors are thankful to retired Prof. R. P. Singh to improve the quality of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Atmospheric Research Laboratory, Department of Physics, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, 221005, India

    Vishnu S. Rathore, Sanjay Kumar, Ashutosh K. Singh & Abhay Kumar Singh

  2. Department of Physical Sciences, Shri Ramswaroop Memorial University, Lucknow-Dewa Road, Barabanki, India

    Ashutosh K. Singh

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  1. Vishnu S. Rathore
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  2. Sanjay Kumar
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Correspondence to Abhay Kumar Singh.

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Rathore, V.S., Kumar, S., Singh, A.K. et al. Ionospheric response to an intense solar flare in equatorial and low latitude region. Indian J Phys 92, 1213–1222 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12648-018-1224-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12648-018-1224-2

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