A National Central University research team has published their discovery of a plasma density hole during a magnetic storm last year, the university’s Center for Astronautical Science and Engineering said yesterday.
The solar magnetic storm on May 10 last year, also called the “Mother’s Day storm,” was the strongest scientists have recorded over the past 20 years, the center said.
The team consisted of researchers from National Central University, Central Weather Administration and University of Colorado in Boulder, it said, adding that their study was published in the scientific journal Geophysical Research Letters.
Photo courtesy of National Central University
Using data collected by the Formosat-5 and Formosat-7 satellites, and through Global Ionospheric Specification (GIS), the team found that the storm triggered the creation of a plasma density hole spanning thousands of kilometers, the center said.
Formosat-5 is Taiwan’s first domestically developed remote sensing satellite. In addition to its imaging capabilities, the satellite has an Advanced Ionospheric Probe — developed by National Central University’s space team — capable of measuring ion density, temperature, velocity and composition in the ionosphere.
Formosat-7 is a Taiwan-US collaborative meteorological satellite mission aimed at establishing a high-reliability network for satellite meteorology and space weather observation. Its onboard Ion Velocity Meter can monitor ion parameters at high frequencies, which is crucial for capturing rapidly changing plasma dynamics.
The research team used global ionospheric models and data assimilation techniques to reconstruct 3D electron density distributions in the ionosphere, enhancing the global and systematic nature of their studies.
Researcher Wu Tsung-yu (吳宗祐) integrated data from the satellites and the GIS, and found that plasma density above the Atlantic Ocean during the storm was more than 100 times lower than in other regions, covering a range of 5,000km to 8,000km, the center said.
The most surprising finding was a twin-peak structure in the center of the hole, which was caused by the combination of upward plasma flows at an altitude of 720km and downward plasma flows at 550km, the center said.
“This shows that the Earth’s ionosphere could have unprecedented changes during extreme space weather events,” it said.
When a solar magnetic storm triggers a plasma disturbance, it could result in GPS errors, interruptions to aviation communications and loss of satellite attitude control, the center said.
The study’s findings would significantly enhance the nation’s space weather forecasting capabilities and reduce potential aviation, maritime and disaster-prevention communication risks, it said.
The project receives financial support from the Ministry of Education’s Higher Education Sprout Project and the National Science and Technology Council.
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