Earth  Sun  ID: 3311

Zoom-in to plasmapause-induced TEC enhancement - April 2001

Space weather events which disturb the plasmapause (displayed here as a green surface enclosing the Earth) can propagate down to the Earth's ionosphere. There they enhance the ionosphere electron content which can disrupt radio signals from satellites.

NOTE: This visualization shows the Earth's magnetic dipole field lines rotating rigidly with the Earth. Technically, this is inaccurate. Ions and electrons in the lower atmosphere can create currents which can make these lines 'drag' with Earth's rotation, but this will occur mostly near the Earth and not higher up. More details on this process can be found in the FAQ at the The Exploration of the Earth's Magnetosphere web site, Does the Earth's magnetic field rotate?.
 

Related


For More Information

http://www.nasa.gov/vision/universe/solarsystem/cold_front_feature.html


Visualization Credits

Tom Bridgman (Global Science and Technology, Inc.): Lead Animator
Jerald Goldstein (SwRI): Scientist
Marlene Colerico (MIT/Haystack): Scientist
Anthea J. Coster (MIT/Haystack): Scientist
Robert Robinson (NSF): Scientist
Geoff Crowley (SwRI): Scientist
John Foster (MIT/Haystack): Scientist
Please give credit for this item to:
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio

Science Paper:
JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH, VOL. 110, A09S31, doi:10.1029/2004JA010928, 2005

Short URL to share this page:
https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3311

Mission:
IMAGE

Data Used:
NAVSTAR/World-wide GPS Receiver Network/Total Electron Content (TEC)
Note: While we identify the data sets used in these visualizations, we do not store any further details nor the data sets themselves on our site.

Dates of Data Used:
2001/04/11T00:24:00Z - 2001/04/13T23:59:00Z

This item is part of this series:
Space Weather Cold Fronts

Keywords:
SVS >> Electron Fluxes
SVS >> Geomagnetic Field
SVS >> Plasmasphere
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Sun-earth Interactions >> Ionosphere/Magnetosphere Particles
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Sun-earth Interactions >> Ionosphere/Magnetosphere Particles >> Electron Flux
GCMD >> Location >> Ionosphere
SVS >> Plasmapause
SVS >> Space Weather
NASA Science >> Earth
NASA Science >> Sun

GCMD keywords can be found on the Internet with the following citation: Olsen, L.M., G. Major, K. Shein, J. Scialdone, S. Ritz, T. Stevens, M. Morahan, A. Aleman, R. Vogel, S. Leicester, H. Weir, M. Meaux, S. Grebas, C.Solomon, M. Holland, T. Northcutt, R. A. Restrepo, R. Bilodeau, 2013. NASA/Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Earth Science Keywords. Version 8.0.0.0.0