Equatorial Anomalous Responses of the Mesosphere and Lower Thermosphere Temperature to Super Geomagnetic Storms Observed by TIMED/SABER
Abstract It is well known that Mesosphere and Lower Thermosphere (MLT) temperatures at both high and mid‐low latitudes respond significantly to geomagnetic storms. However, during major geomagnetic storms, the temperature response in the MLT equator is relatively weak and has received little attention. In 2024, two superstorms, one on Mother's Day and another in October, provided a rare opportunity to investigate the effects of superstorms on equatorial MLT temperatures. During superstorms, MLT equatorial temperature increase observed by TIMED/SABER can surpass 40 K and vary with local time, showing stronger responses during nighttime and the dawn sector compared to midafternoon and dusk. The equatorial MLT temperature increases surpassed those in low and even mid‐latitude regions. ΣO/N 2 increase derived from TIMED/GUVI indicates that downward vertical flows result in the equatorial temperature anomaly increase. This study enhances our understanding of MLT dynamics under extreme space weather conditions, providing valuable insights for improved predictive models.
Authors
- Jingyuan Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8256-4955)
- J. Y. Lu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7042-5395)
- Shuai Fu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4245-3107)
- Mingjin Zhan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3757-2307)
- Yufeng Tian (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1290-1020)
- Guanchun Wei
- Ming Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3290-8721)
- Zhiwei Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5395-5447)
- Zheng Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9641-8959)
- Hung Yao
- Gang Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4695-8866)
- Hua Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0365-1784)
- Xiaoping Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4306-5213)
- Shuang Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3576-3177)
- Chengyang Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9282-0345)
- Xiaotong Sun (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4685-9852)
- Ningtao Huang
Institutions
- Macau University of Science and Technology (MO)
- Tongji University (CN)
- Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology (CN)
- China Geological Survey (CN)
- China National Space Administration (CN)
- State Key Laboratory of Marine Geology
Publication Details
- Journal
- Geophysical Research Letters
- Published
- 2025-08-31
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1029/2025gl114776
- Citations
- 1
- Primary Topic
- Ionosphere and magnetosphere dynamics
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 1.15
Funders
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- Chinese Academy of Sciences
- Fundo para o Desenvolvimento das Ciências e da Tecnologia
- Macau University of Science and Technology
- Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation of Guangdong Province