Ionospheric storm
[3] The total electron content (TEC) is used to measure these densities, and is a key variable used in data to record and compare the intensities of ionospheric storms.
The intensity of the storm brought the visibility of the aurora to lower latitudes, and it was reportedly seen in places such as Florida and the Caribbean.
The F-region storms occur due to sudden increases of energised electrons instilled into Earth's ionosphere.
[8] The largest ionospheric storm occurred during the Carrington event on August 28, 1859 and caused extensive damages to various parts including the sparking of fires in railway signals and telegraph wires.
[2] In recent accounts, the St Patrick's Day storms in March 2013 and 2015 caused a strong negative phase in the F2 ionospheric region.
[11] The June 2015 Southern Hemisphere winter storm had a shorter duration, lasting between 4 and 6 hours, and producing a positive effect in the ionosphere.
[15] Even for the largest geomagnetic storms, such as the 20 November 2003 superstorm, modern general circulation models are able to simulate positive ionospheric anomalies.
[18] During ionospheric storms, it is more common for "anomalous" increases and decreases of TEC and electron density to occur in the F2-layer.
When ionospheric storms occur, there is enhanced ionisation of electrons that happens in the D-region and causes a decline in day-night asymmetry (DLPT depth.
Aircraft passengers and crew receive a higher dose of radiation during an ionospheric storm, relative to people at sea level.
Solar cells on satellites may be damaged or destroyed in ionospheric storms, which can hinder the transmission of signals.
The radiation emitted by solar wind only reaches the highest layers of the Earth's atmosphere, including the ionosphere.
It is recorded that the increase of solar wind during March 2012 in the United States coincided with the heat waves that occurred at the time.
[29] A statistical connection between the occurrence of heavy floods and ionospheric storms caused by high-speed solar wind streams (HSSs) has been also reported.
The enhanced energy deposition into the auroral ionosphere during HSSs is suggested to generate downward-propagating atmospheric gravity waves.
The excited gravity waves reach lower atmosphere, triggering an instability in the troposphere and leading to excessive rainfall.
[27] During the Carrington Event in 1859 where there were only a limited number of available measuring technologies, the full extent of the impacts could not be precisely recorded apart from recounts in newspaper articles written in 1859.
This technology allows meteorologists to detect the highest frequency that can be vertically returned [31] 24 hours in advance with accuracy of 8-13% periods with limited disturbance.
