Analysis of the Ionospheric Total Electron Content during the

Series of September 2017 Solar Flares over the Philippine –

Taiwan Region

Merlin M. Mendoza*, Kyle Ezekiel S. Juadines, Ernest P. Macalalad

Space Environment and Atmospheric Research Group, Department of Physics Mapúa University,
658 Muralla St., Intramuros, Manila, 1002 Metro Manila, Philippines

Solar flares are one of the most prominent drivers of our space weather. During a solar
flare event, the sun releases energy in terms of electromagnetic radiation in all wavelengths. It
affects the Earth's upper atmosphere and the performance of many space technologies. The Sun
produced a series of solar flares during the month of September. There were seven solar flares
that happened during the period of 4 September 17 to 10 September 2017. It started with an M5.5
solar flare at September 4, 2017. It was followed by an X2.2 solar flare on September 6, 2017,
and at a later time, an X9.3 solar flare. Then a M7.3 solar flare on 7 September 2017, followed
by an X1.3 solar flare on the same day. It was followed by an M8.1 solar flare on 8 September
2017 and it ended with an X8.2 solar flare on 10 September 2017.

The X9.3 solar flare of September 2017 is the strongest of the seven consecutive flares
originating from active sunspot region 2673. Two of these flares produced a G4 Storm. The first
to hit is from the X9.3 flare at ~22 UT of 6 September 2017 and the other from a M7.3 flare at
~13 UT of 8 September 2017. The series of continuous bombardment of coronal mass ejections
and solar flares caused enhancements in the total electron content (TEC) as observed from ground
based International GNSS Service (IGS) receivers.

A 16-day observation period from 1 September 2018 to 1 September 2018 is selected

such that comparison between the quiet and disturbed periods of the ionosphere can be observed
during the series of flares. There are five International GNSS Service (IGS) stations selected over
Philippines and Taiwan such that a latitudinal variation over the equatorial regions are
highlighted. This storm caused an enhancement of about ~15 TEC units (TECU), (1 TECU = 10
 electrons / m  ) as measured on International GNSS Service (IGS) stations along the
Taiwanese and Philippine sectors. This agrees with the TEC observations made by Yasyukevich et
al. (2018) at middle latitude regions wherein an increase of ~4 TECU is observed on the X2.2
flare, ~10 TECU during the X9.3 flare, and ~15 TECU at low latitudes.

Keywords: ionosphere, solar flares, GNSS TEC, space weather

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* mendoza.merlin25@gmail.com