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Impact of Solar Flare Radiation on the Ionosphere

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 GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS, VOL. 32, L15103, doi:10.1029/2005GL023291, 2005
Global response of the low-latitude to midlatitude ionosphere due to
the Bastille Day flare
J. D. Huba,1 H. P. Warren,2 G. Joyce,1,3 X. Pi,4 B. Iijima,4 and C. Coker5
Received 20 April 2005; revised 24 June 2005; accepted 8 July 2005; published 11 August 2005.
[1] The first global simulation study and comparison to
data of the ionospheric effects associated with the enhanced
EUV irradiance of the Bastille Day flare are presented. This
is done by incorporating a time-dependent EUV spectrum,
based on data and hydrodynamic modeling, into the NRL
ionosphere model SAMI3. The simulation results indicate
that the total electron content (TEC) increases to over 7 TEC
units in the daytime, low-latitude ionosphere. In addition, it
is predicted that the maximum density in the F-layer
(NmF2) increases by 20% and that the height of the
maximum electron density (HmF2) decreases by 20%.
These results are explained by the increased ionization at
altitudes <400 km which increases TEC and NmF2 while
decreasing HmF2. The results are in reasonably good
agreement with data obtained from GPS satellites and
the TOPEX satellite. Citation: Huba, J. D., H. P. Warren,
G. Joyce, X. Pi, B. Iijima, and C. Coker (2005), Global
response of the low-latitude to midlatitude ionosphere due to
the Bastille Day flare, Geophys. Res. Lett., 32, L15103,
doi:10.1029/2005GL023291.
1. Introduction
[2] The impact of solar geoeffective events on the earth’s
ionosphere is an important research topic with regard to
space weather. There are two main aspects to the effect of
solar variability on the ionosphere: enhanced radiation
associated with solar flares and storm-time effects (e.g.,
penetration electric fields and wind-driven effects) as de-
scribed by Basu et al. [2001]. In this Letter we address the
former issue for the Bastille Day flare (July 14, 2000).
Enhanced X-ray and extreme ultraviolet (EUV) irradiance
associated with solar flares directly impacts the earth’s
ionosphere through increased dayglow emissions and ion-
ization [Mendillo et al., 1974; Meier et al., 2002; Dymond et
al., 2004; Liu et al., 2004; Tsurutani et al., 2005] For
example, Dymond et al. [2004] reported an increase of 40%
in the 911-Å emission during the Bastille Day flare. These
observations were made with the Low-Resolution Airglow
and Aurora Spectrograph (LORASS) aboard the Advanced
Research and Global Observation Satellite (ARGOS). Very
recently, Tsurutani et al. [2005] compared the ionospheric
1
Plasma Physics Division, Naval Research Laboratory, Washington,
D. C., USA.
2
Space Science Division, Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, D. C.,
USA.
3
Now at Department of Physics and Astronomy, George Mason
University, Fairfax, Virginia, USA.
4
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, USA.
5
Praxis, Inc., Alexandria, Virginia, USA.
Copyright 2005 by the American Geophysical Union.
0094-8276/05/2005GL023291$05.00
L15103
response of several flares using Global Positioning Satellite
(GPS) data. For the Bastille Day flare, they report an
increase in the total electron content (TEC) at the subsolar
point of 5 – 7 TECU (1 TECU = 1016 m 2).
[3] Meier et al. [2002] developed a model of the EUV
spectral irradiance for the Bastille Day flare and used
SAMI2 to study ionospheric effects at two times: pre-flare
(UT 1000) and peak flare (UT 1036). However, these
modeling results were limited to a single magnetic longitude
plane, did not report changes in TEC, used a simple linear
time-dependent EUV spectrum, and did not compare results
to data. In this Letter, we substantially improve upon the
modeling results presented by Meier et al. [2002]. Specif-
ically, we present the first global simulation study and
comparison to data of the ionospheric effects associated
with the Bastille Day flare. This is accomplished by
incorporating a more realistic time-dependent EUV spec-
trum, based on data and hydrodynamic modeling, into the
NRL three dimensional ionosphere model SAMI3. It is
found that the TEC increases by 7 TEC units in the
daytime, low-latitude ionosphere which is consistent with
differential TEC measurements obtained from GPS satellites
and the TOPEX satellite.
2. EUV Spectrum
[4] High cadence, spectrally resolved observations of the
soft X-ray and EUV irradiance changes during a flare do not
exist for most events. To address this limitation we are
developing methods for performing numerical simulations
of solar flares using a time-dependent hydrodynamic code
[e.g., Mariska et al., 1989]. In our simulations we model the
flare as a succession of independently heated filaments and
derive the energy deposited into each filament from the
observed GOES soft X-ray fluxes of the event [Warren and
Antiochos, 2004]. Currently we can accurately reproduce
the evolution of the high temperature (T  2  106 K)
emission that dominates the emission at the shortest wave-
lengths [Warren and Doschek, 2005]. At transition region
temperatures (T ] 7  105 K), however, the simulations
suggest enhancements in the solar irradiance that are much
too large. This difficulty is associated with the sharp
gradients in temperature and density in the transition region
and the complexity of the interface with the chromosphere.
Therefore, to develop a meaningful time-dependent EUV
irradiance spectrum for the Bastille Day flare we constrain
the simulation results at transition region temperatures to
agree with the UV and EUV variability observed with the
Transition Region and Coronal Explorer (TRACE). How-
ever, additional work remains to be done before we can
accurately reproduce solar irradiance variations from phys-
ical models.
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L15103 HUBA ET AL.: IONOSPHERIC EFFECTS OF THE BASTILLE DAY FLARE
[5] The modeled spectra are binned in 37 segments, i.e.,
similar to the binning used in EUVAC [Richards et al.,
1994]. The time cadence for the spectra is 5 minutes
between UT 1000 and UT 1200. The EUV spectrum is
shown in the top panel of Figure 1 at times UT 1000 (black)
and UT 1036 (red). The flare began around UT 1000 and
reached its peak intensity around UT 1036. In the bottom
panel of Figure 1 we show the ratio of the flare irradiance at
UT 1036 to the pre-flare irradiance at UT 1000. The largest
relative increase, greater than a factor of 9, occurs at
150 Å; there is an increase of 1.2 –2.0 for the wavelengths
between 200 and 1000 Å. The flare irradiance is larger than
the pre-flare irradiance between UT 1012 and UT 1200.
3. Simulation Model
[6] The Naval Research Laboratory has developed a three
dimensional low-latitude to midlatitude ionosphere model:
SAMI3. This model is based on the two dimensional model
SAMI2 [Huba et al., 2000, 2002, 2003] SAMI2 describes
ionospheric dynamics in a magnetic plane (i.e., latitude and
altitude); SAMI3 contains the same fundamental physical
processes as SAMI2 but extends the grid in longitude and
includes zonal drifts. Additionally, SAMI3 uses an IGRF-
like magnetic field model where the IGRF field is approx-
imated as a dipole field line at each longitude in the
simulation grid.
[7] The simulation results presented in this paper use a
grid (nz, nf, nl) = (121, 150, 75) where nz is the number of
points along a dipole field line, nf is the number of points in
altitude along the magnetic apex (i.e., number of magnetic
field lines), and nl is the number of points in longitude. The
grid is nonuniform in a magnetic plane (nz, nf) and uniform
in longitude (nl). We only consider the four majority ion
species: H+, O+, NO+, and O+2 . The geophysical parameters
used are the following: day 196, year 2000, F10.7 = 231.9,
F10.7A = 186.3, and Ap = 51. The simulations were started
Figure 1. (top) Modeled EUV spectrum at UT 1000
(black) and UT 1036 (red). (bottom) The ratio of the flare
irradiance at UT 1036 to the pre-flare irradiance at UT 1000.
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L15103
Figure 2. Color coded contour plot of the difference in
TEC between the flare simulation and the no-flare
simulation. The color bar is in TECU units.
at UT 0000 and run until UT 1300. Lastly, we note that the
results presented do not adjust either the EUV spectrum or
SAMI3 parameters to obtain agreement with the data.
4. Results
[8] We performed two simulations: one simulation used
the pre-flare spectrum at UT 1000 throughout the run, the
other simulation used the time-dependent flare spectra
previously described. To quantify the impact of the en-
hanced flare irradiance on the ionosphere, we have calcu-
lated the difference in TEC, NmF2, and HmF2 between the
two simulations. We show only the TEC results here. In
Figure 2 we show the difference in TEC at time UT 1100.
The TEC increases by 7 TEC units over a wide area in the
equatorial region, and by 4 TEC units at higher latitudes
towards sunrise and sunset. For example, at UT 1100 the
TEC is increased by 4 TECU over the latitude range 40
<
qg < 30
and the longitude range 50
< fg < 100
. These
values are consistent with the TEC increases reported by
Tsurutani et al. [2005]. In addition, we find that the
maximum value of NmF2 is 2.5  106 cm 3; the
maximum increase in NmF2 is 3  105 cm 3. Thus,
the maximum increase in NmF2 is roughly 10% of the
pre-flare value. However, throughout most of the sunlit
ionosphere, the value of NmF2 is increased by 5%. The
HmF2 decreases by almost 100 km at 10
latitude in
the longitude range ±5
.
[9] In Figure 3 we plot the time dependence of the EUV
irradiance at 150 Å (solid red) and 400 Å (dashed red). We
also plot the difference in electron density between the flare
and no-flare cases (Dn = nflare nno flare) at altitudes of
172 km (solid blue), 222 km (dashed blue), and 382 km
(blue dashed-dot-dot). The geographic latitude is qg = 0

and the geographic longitude is fg = 0
. The values of
the plotted quantities are normalized to unity at their
maximum values so that the temporal relationships are
elucidated. The temporal relationships between the 150 Å
irradiance and the Dn at z = 172 km, and the 400 Å
irradiance and the Dn at z = 222 km agree extremely well
until shortly after the EUV peak values. Thus, the increase of
L15103 HUBA ET AL.: IONOSPHERIC EFFECTS OF THE BASTILLE DAY FLARE L15103

Figure 4. Comparison of the differential TEC from the

Figure 3. The time dependence of the EUV irradiance at MALI GPS data (dashed line) and simulation results (solid
150 Å (solid red) and 400 Å (dashed red) and the difference line).
in electron density between the flare and no-flare cases
(Dn = nflare nno flare) at altitudes of 172 km (solid blue), at flare onset (UT 1000) the simulation results have roughly
222 km (dashed blue), and 382 km (blue dashed-dot-dot). the same value as the GPS data to facilitate the comparison.
The increase in TEC because of the enhanced flare radiation is
the electron density is directly proportional to the enhanced roughly 7 TECU for both the data and the simulation results.
solar irradiation during the onset of the flare for altitudes However, the data shows a somewhat sharper increase in TEC
<230 km. Following the peak intensity of the flare, the at flare onset and a more abrupt decrease in TEC after UT
electron density decays primarily because of chemical pro- 1030 than the simulation results. The persistence of the larger
cesses and recombination; however, there is still additional values of TEC in the simulation results is attributed to the
photoionization relative to the no-flare case because of the increased electron density being lifted to higher altitudes
flare enhanced irradiation. In contrast to these results, the (i.e., >300 km) and being long lived.
increase in the electron density at higher altitudes (e.g., z = [11] In Figure 5 we compare TOPEX TEC data (red lines)
382 km) is primarily due to the enhanced photoionization flux [Coker et al., 2001] with SAMI3 model results (blue lines).
but occurs at a slower rate and is more long-lived. The plasma The solid curves are for July 14, 2000 at time 1112 UT and
at higher altitudes persists for longer times because the lower longitude 81E; the dashed curves are for July 13, 2000 at
neutral atmospheric densities slow chemical/recombination time 1050 UT and longitude 90E. The TOPEX data is also a
processes. The long-lived plasma at high altitudes (350 km) function of longitude while the SAMI3 results are for
leads to the enhancement of TEC even after the flare has constant longitude. The positions are coincident at the
subsided. geographic equator (0
latitude). The salient points are that
both TOPEX and SAMI3 observe an increase in TEC from
July 13 to July 14 due to the solar flare and that the model
5. Data Comparison
[10] We first compare our model results to GPS data.
GPS receivers provide dual-frequency phase and range
measurements between the observing station and the GPS
satellite. Line-of-sight TEC data are derived from the phase
and range measurements, with transmitter and receiver
instrumental biases removed. Such line-of-sight TEC is then
converted to a vertical TEC measurement at the assumed
sub-ionospheric point (450 km) along the radio link. In
Figure 4 we compare our results to data obtained from the
GPS station at Malindi, Kenya (MALI) for three satellites
(GPS25, GPS31, and GPS33). The MALI site is located at
3
latitude and 40.2
longitude. The sub-ionospheric
latitude of the satellite tracks for the MALI station during
the interval of interest is from  2
to  10
, and in
longitude from 39
to 42
. The GPS data are denoted by
dashed lines and represent the difference in vertical TEC
between July 13, 2000 (no-flare day) and July 14, 2000
(flare day) as a function of time. The solid lines are the
difference in TEC between the flare and no-flare simu-
lations versus time. The differential TEC calculated using Figure 5. Comparison of vertical TEC from the TOPEX
SAMI3 does not vary very much over the range of satellite (red lines) and simulation results (blue lines). The
latitude and longitude associated with the GPS data so solid curves are for July 14, 2000 at time 1112 UT and
we use a single position to calculate TEC: 4
latitude and longitude 81E; the dashed curves are for July 13, 2000 at
40
longitude. The simulation results have been offset so that time 1050 UT and longitude 90E.

3 of 4
L15103 HUBA ET AL.: IONOSPHERIC EFFECTS OF THE BASTILLE DAY FLARE
results are in reasonably good agreement with the data. The
largest discrepancy occurs for latitudes <0
; one explanation
for the lack of agreement between data and model results is
that the E  B drift assumed in the model was not accurate.
Simulation model results in the low-latitude ionosphere are
very sensitive to the E  B drift and neutral wind models.
6. Summary
[12] We have presented new results of the effect of the
Bastille Day flare on the low-latitude to midlatitude iono-
sphere using the NRL ionosphere model SAMI3 in con-
junction with a time-dependent EUV spectrum based on
hydrodynamic modeling and data. We find that the total
electron content increases by 7 TECU. In addition, it is
found that NmF2 increases by 20% and that HmF2
decreases by 20%. These results are explained by the
increased ionization in the altitude range 400 km which
increases TEC and NmF2 while decreasing HmF2. Overall
these results are consistent previous observational measure-
ments [Tsurutani et al., 2005; Dymond et al., 2004].
[13] We have compared the model results with GPS
satellite data and TOPEX data. An underlying assumption
in the comparisons is that the ionosphere is similar, except
for the flare, on the pre-flare day and flare day. The purpose
of the comparison is not to obtain precise agreement
between the model results and data but to demonstrate that
the flare-enhanced ionization predicted by the model is
consistent with observations. We obtain good agreement
with respect to the magnitude of the TEC increase in the
GPS data; the agreement with the TOPEX data is also
reasonably good with respect to the absolute value of the
TEC and differential value of the TEC. However, one
significant difference between the GPS data and simulation
results is the more rapid increase in TEC at flare onset. We
note that the current SAMI3 model does not account for
ionization processes for spectral lines below 50 Å. For
instance, ionization produced by photoelectrons produced
by soft X-rays in the altitude range 100– 200 km. This
additional ionization mechanism may explain this discrep-
ancy. One future improvement of the model will be to
extend the irradiance spectrum down to 5Å and to include
the relevant physics. Also, the temporal cadence of the
modeled flare data is 5 min; a faster cadence rate may lead
to a faster increase in TEC. A second difference is the
persistence of enhanced TEC in the model as compared to
the GPS data. The TEC decrease or variations seen in the
temporal sampling is likely due to the ionospheric spatial
variations in the structured equatorial anomaly region,
which often shows day-to-day weather variability. This
variation is not included in the model results at a fixed
location as plotted in Figure 4. We note that Tsurutani et al.
[2005] reported a persistence in the TEC for several hours
following several solar flares consistent with the model
prediction. Finally, we intend to model the ionospheric
response to more recent flares for which we can obtain
4 of 4
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L15103
spectral data from the TIMED SEE instrument [Woods et
al., 2005] for a more accurate representation of the irradi-
ance spectrum. We intend to address these issues and
elaborate on the details in a future publication.
[14] Acknowledgment. This research has been supported by ONR
and NASA.
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J. D. Huba, Code 6790, Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC
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B. Iijima and X. Pi, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, M/S 138-308, 4800 Oak
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