Ionospheric response to the geomagnetic storm on 13–17 April 2006 in the West Pacific region

This paper presents an investigation of geomagnetic storm effects in the equatorial and middle-low latitude F-region in the West Pacific sector during the intense geomagnetic storm on 13–17 April, 2006. The event, preceded by a minor storm, started at 2130 UT on April 13 while interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) Bz component was ready to turn southward. From 14–17 the ionosphere was characterized by a large scale enhancement in critical frequency, foF2 (4∼6MHz) and total electron content (TEC) (∼30TECU, 1TECU=1×1016el/m2) followed by a long-duration negative phase observed through the simultaneous ionospheric sounding measurements from 14 stations and GPS network along the meridian 120°E. A periodic wave structure, known as traveling ionospheric disturbances (TIDs) was observed in the morning sector during the initial phase of the storm which should be associated with the impulsive magnetospheric energy injection to the auroral. In the afternoon and nighttime, the positive phase should be caused by the combination of equatorward winds and disturbed electric fields verified through the equatorial F-layer peak height variation and modeled upward drift of Fejer and Scherliess [1997. Empirical models of storm time equatorial electric fields. Journal of Geophysical Research 102, 24,047–24,056]. It is shown that the large positive storm effect was more pronounced in the Southern Hemisphere during the morning-noon sector on April 15 and negative phase reached to lower magnetic latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere which may be related to the asymmetry of the thermospheric condition during the storm.