changes in atmosphere density at satellite altitudes caused by… changes in solar extreme...

Changes in Atmosphere Density at Satellite Altitudes Caused by…Changes in solar extreme ultraviolet (EUV) radiation, electrical energy

extracted from the solar wind (geomagnetic activity), planetary and tidal

wave activity from the lower atmosphere Known Solar EUV effects

Episodic – flares Periodic – 11 year solar cycle, 27 day equatorial rotation

Known Geomagnetic Activity Episodic – coronal mass ejections Periodic – coronal holes, solar wind high speed streams, co-

rotating interaction regions (CIRs)

Known Lower Atmosphere Waves Diurnal and Semidiurnal tides Atmospheric planetary waves at 2, 5, 9-10 and12-18 day

periodicity

Episodic Solar EUV Flares andCoronal Mass Ejections

Periodic Coronal Holes and Corotating Interaction Regions in the Interplanetary Medium

Yohkoh image-soft X rays

CHAMP Satellite launched in July 2000 at 450 km altitude in a near circular orbit with an inclination of 87.3 and a local time precession of 5.44 min/day (12 hours / 133 days)

Sutton et al., J. Spacecraft and Rockets, 2007

The physical parameters of the CHAMP satellite are:• Total Mass 522 kg • Height 0.750 m• Length (with 4.044 m Boom) 8.333 m • Width 1.621 m• Area to Mass Ratio 0.00138 m2kg-1

Periodic Thermosphere Mass Density Perturbations for Year 2005

Density - 400km altitude

Solar EUV flux index

Day of Year , 2005Note: Orbit-averaged density with an overall estimated error (systematic and statistical)of less than 10%

Solar Wind and Geomagnetic Activity for Year 2005

Solar wind speed

Geomagnetic Activity Index

2005 Periodograms – Subharmonics of a Solar Rotation

Density - 400km altitude

Solar EUV flux index

Solar wind speed

Geomagnetic Activity Index

27 days/3

2005 Wavelet Analysis

Density - 400km altitude

Solar EUV flux index

Solar wind speed

Geomagnetic Activity Index

9-day Periodicities in Thermosphere Density for days 25-100, 2005 Correlated with Geomagnetic Activity and Felt Globally

9-day Bandpass Filtered Data

2006 Periodograms

Density - 400km altitude

Solar EUV flux index

Solar wind speed

Geomagnetic Activity Index

Density - 400km altitude

Lei, J., J. P. Thayer, J. M. Forbes, E. K. Sutton, and R. S. Nerem (2008), Rotating solar coronal holes and periodic modulation of the upper atmosphere, Geophys. Res. Lett., 35, L10109, doi:10.1029/2008GL033875.

Thayer, J. P., J. Lei, J. M. Forbes, E. K. Sutton, and R. S. Nerem (2008), Thermospheric density oscillations due to periodic solar wind high-speed streams, J. Geophys. Res., 113, A06307, doi:10.1029/2008JA013190.

Periodograms of TIMED SEE EUV Data from 5-105 nm for 2004 - 2006

Year 2004

Year 2005 Year 2006

5-105 nm

CO2

NO

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

Pow

er (

1011

W

)TIMED / SABER Measurements of the Daily Infrared Power (W)

Solar UV

TIMED Measured Power in UV and IR Emissions from 2002-2006

Daily TIMED SEE UV measurements from 0-175 nm

Daily, Global SABER IR Emissions:Integrated CO2 and NO Power from 100-200km

Periodogram of SABER Measured NO Power from 2002-2006

Mlynczak, M. G., F. J. Martin-Torres, C. J. Mertens, B. T. Marshall, R. E. Thompson, J. U. Kozyra, E. E. Remsberg, L. L. Gordley, J. M. Russell III, and T. Woods (2008), Solar-terrestrial coupling evidenced by periodic behavior in geomagnetic indexes and the infrared energy budget of the thermosphere, Geophys. Res. Lett., 35, L05808, doi:10.1029/2007GL032620.

Periodogram of GUVI Orbit-Averaged SO/N2 ratio for 2005

Crowley, G., A. Reynolds, J. P. Thayer, J. Lei, L.J. Paxton, A.B. Christensen, Y. Zhang, R.R. Meier, D.J. Strickland (2008), Periodic Modulations in Thermospheric Composition by Solar Wind High Speed Streams , Geophys. Res. Lett., 35, L21106, doi:10.1029/2008GL035745.

Latitude Coverage +/- 90 degrees

Latitude Coverage +/- 60 degrees

Periodogram of Global Total Electron Content from 2005 and 2006 with Latitude

2 5 7 9 13

Period (day)

2 5 7 9 13

Period (day)Lei, J., J. P. Thayer, J. M. Forbes, Q. Wu, C. She, W. Wan, W. Wang (2008), Ionosphere response to solar wind high speed streams, , Geophys. Res. Lett., 35, L19105, doi:10.1029/2008GL035208.

Year 2006Year 2005

F-region Neutral Temperatures and Winds from 2005 and 2006 Show 7 and 9 Periodicities

Year 2005

Year 2006Year 2006

Meridional Winds

TemperatureRecorded Temperatures and Windsfrom FPI data at Resolute Bay

SOHO/EIT 195A image of the Sun – April 9, 2005

Courtesy of Vic Pizzo, NOAA/SEC and Leslie Mayer, CU/CIRES

Equatorward extensionof the northern polar coronal hole

Coronal Hole and Solar Wind Speed with Heliolongitude Distribution

Courtesy of Vic Pizzo, NOAA/SEC and Leslie Mayer, CU/CIRES

Solar Wind Speed NSO

Derived CoronalHoles

NSO

Date longitude liesin the Sun-earth line

CIR Events, Superposed Epoch Analysis (centered April 4, 2005)

Cumulative Density Functions for an epoch analysis of 67 CIR storms from 2003 - 2006

Epoch time (days)

Cumulative Density Functions for an epoch analysis of 67 CIR storms from 2003 - 2006

Upper Atmosphere Episodes of Change at Multi-Day PeriodicitiesDiscovery: Recent satellite measurements have discovered episodes of change in the Earth's upper atmosphere at periods near 5, 7 and 9 days that are attributed to recurrent high speed solar wind stream disturbances and coronal hole distributions on the sun.

Thermosphere / Ionosphere Properties:

Thermosphere Mass Density at 400km

NO and CO2 IR emissions from MLT

Columnar O/N2 ratio

Global total electron content

F-region Neutral Temperature and Winds

High SpeedSolar Wind Streams

Geomagnetic Storm

AuroraCurrents Global Thermosphere

Heating

Thermosphere Breathing

Interplanetary MediumSolar Coronal Holes

Atmosphere Breathing Modes – Makes the News

Discovery Leads to Improvements in Predicting Atmospheric Drag on Satellites Enabling Better Satellite Tracking, Avoidance and Design

Satelite Tracki

ng

•Improve tracking and monitoring of the 12,000 low earth orbiting satellites and debris•Improve updates of satellite orbital elements

Orbital De

bris

•Reduce maneuvers to avoid orbital debris•Provide better collision avoidance warnings

Satelite D

esign

•Optimize spacecraft / orbit design of lifetime, on-board fuel, and attitude control

•Improve predictions of satellite reentry

Daily Kp Index 2002-2006

Periodogram Analysis of Kp Index 2002-2006

N=1N=2

N=3

N=4

N=5N=7

Subharmonics of amean solar rotation period

Kp Index Periods for Four Solar Cycles

6.75 day

9 day

13.5 day

27 day

5.4 day

4.5 day

Study Implications

Periodic oscillations in thermosphere / ionosphere properties at sub-

harmonics of the solar rotation period (9, 6.75 and 5.4 days) have

been discovered and related to solar wind high speed streams and

the heliolongitude distribution of coronal holes.

The periodic nature of this connection suggests an element of

predictability for these geomagnetic storm events

Little change in EUV flux during these episodes allows for

geomagnetically driven affects on the thermosphere and ionosphere

to be solely studied and identified.