Atmospheric Influence of the Solar Proton Events and Ground Level Enhancement in January 2005

Details Atmospheric Influence of the Solar Proton Events and Ground Level Enhancement in January 2005 Atmospheric Influence of the Solar Proton Events and Ground Level Enhancement in January 2005

Dec 2009

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2009agufmsa53a1245j&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2009, abstract #SA53A-1245

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

[0340] Atmospheric Composition And Structure / Middle Atmosphere: Composition And Chemistry, [0341] Atmospheric Composition And Structure / Middle Atmosphere: Constituent Transport And Chemistry, [0342] Atmospheric Composition And Structure / Middle Atmosphere: Energy Deposition, [7514] Solar Physics, Astrophysics, And Astronomy / Energetic Particles

Scientific paper

Solar eruptions in early 2005 led to a substantial barrage of charged particles on the Earth’s atmosphere in a few separate events during the January 16-21 period. Significant production of OH [Verronen et al. 2006] and destruction of ozone [Verronen et al. 2006; Seppala et al. 2006] have been documented due to the enhanced solar proton flux in January 2005. These solar proton events (SPEs) also led to the production of NOx (NO, NO2), when the protons and associated secondary electrons dissociated molecular nitrogen (N2). Our simulations with the Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model (WACCM) show that mesospheric NOx is enhanced in both the polar Southern (greater than 10 ppbv) and Northern (greater than 40 ppbv) Hemispheres. Envisat MIPAS measurements of nighttime NO2 for the Northern Hemisphere are in reasonable agreement with these predictions. Such enhancements are considerable for the mesosphere and led to increases in Northern Hemisphere polar upper stratospheric odd nitrogen (NOy) greater than 20% in February and March 2005. The largest ground level enhancement (GLE) of solar cycle 23 occurred on January 20, 2005 with a neutron monitor increase of about 270% [Gopalswamy et al. 2005]. Using results from a recent analysis of the proton spectrum derived from neutron-monitor data [Tylka & Dietrich 2009], we found that protons of energies 300 to 20,000 MeV, not normally included in our computations, led to enhanced stratospheric NOy of less than 1% as a result of this GLE. Thus, the primary impact of the January 2005 solar events on the middle atmosphere was through protons with energies less than 300 MeV. This presentation will show both short- and longer-term changes due to the January 2005 solar protons. Gopalswamy, N., et al., Coronal mass ejections and ground level enhancements, 29th International Cosmic Ray Conference Pune, 1, 169-173, 2005. Seppala, A., et al., Destruction of the tertiary ozone maximum during a solar proton event, Geophys. Res. Lett., 33, L07804, doi:10.1029/2005GL025571, 2006. Tylka, A.J. & W.F. Dietrich, A new and comprehensive analysis of proton spectra in ground-level enhanced (GLE) solar particle events, 31st International Cosmic Ray Conference Lodz, paper 0273, 2009. Verronen, P. T., et al., Production of odd hydrogen in the mesosphere during the January 2005 solar proton event, Geophys Res. Lett., 33, L24811, doi:10.1029/2006GL028115, 2006.

Affiliated with

Also associated with

No associations

Rating

Atmospheric Influence of the Solar Proton Events and Ground Level Enhancement in January 2005 does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with Atmospheric Influence of the Solar Proton Events and Ground Level Enhancement in January 2005, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Atmospheric Influence of the Solar Proton Events and Ground Level Enhancement in January 2005 will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1781190