First observations of a geomagnetic superstorm with a sub-L1 monitor

Fuente: arXiv
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Hauptverfasser: Weiler, Eva, Möstl, Christian, Davies, Emma E., Veronig, Astrid, Amerstorfer, Ute V., Amerstorfer, Tanja, Louëdec, Justin Le, Bauer, Maike, Lugaz, Noé, Haberle, Veronika, Rüdisser, Hannah T., Majumdar, Satabdwa, Reiss, Martin
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2024
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author Weiler, Eva
Möstl, Christian
Davies, Emma E.
Veronig, Astrid
Amerstorfer, Ute V.
Amerstorfer, Tanja
Louëdec, Justin Le
Bauer, Maike
Lugaz, Noé
Haberle, Veronika
Rüdisser, Hannah T.
Majumdar, Satabdwa
Reiss, Martin
author_facet Weiler, Eva
Möstl, Christian
Davies, Emma E.
Veronig, Astrid
Amerstorfer, Ute V.
Amerstorfer, Tanja
Louëdec, Justin Le
Bauer, Maike
Lugaz, Noé
Haberle, Veronika
Rüdisser, Hannah T.
Majumdar, Satabdwa
Reiss, Martin
contents Forecasting the geomagnetic effects of solar coronal mass ejections (CMEs) is currently an unsolved problem. CMEs, responsible for the largest values of the north-south component of the interplanetary magnetic field, are the key driver of intense and extreme geomagnetic activity. Observations of southward interplanetary magnetic fields are currently only accessible directly through in situ measurements by spacecraft in the solar wind. On 10-12 May 2024, the strongest geomagnetic storm since 2003 took place, caused by five interacting CMEs. We clarify the relationship between the CMEs, their solar source regions, and the resulting signatures at the Sun-Earth L1 point observed by the ACE spacecraft at 1.00 AU. The STEREO-A spacecraft was situated at 0.956 AU and 12.6° west of Earth during the event, serving as a fortuitous sub-L1 monitor providing interplanetary magnetic field measurements of the solar wind. We demonstrate an extension of the prediction lead time, as the shock was observed 2.57 hours earlier at STEREO-A than at L1, consistent with the measured shock speed at L1, 710 km/s, and the radial distance of 0.04 AU. By deriving the geomagnetic indices based on the STEREO-A beacon data, we show that the strength of the geomagnetic storm would have been decently forecasted, with the modeled minimum SYM-H=-478.5 nT, underestimating the observed minimum by only 8%. Our study sets an unprecedented benchmark for future mission design using upstream monitoring for space weather prediction.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2411_12490
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle First observations of a geomagnetic superstorm with a sub-L1 monitor
Weiler, Eva
Möstl, Christian
Davies, Emma E.
Veronig, Astrid
Amerstorfer, Ute V.
Amerstorfer, Tanja
Louëdec, Justin Le
Bauer, Maike
Lugaz, Noé
Haberle, Veronika
Rüdisser, Hannah T.
Majumdar, Satabdwa
Reiss, Martin
Space Physics
Forecasting the geomagnetic effects of solar coronal mass ejections (CMEs) is currently an unsolved problem. CMEs, responsible for the largest values of the north-south component of the interplanetary magnetic field, are the key driver of intense and extreme geomagnetic activity. Observations of southward interplanetary magnetic fields are currently only accessible directly through in situ measurements by spacecraft in the solar wind. On 10-12 May 2024, the strongest geomagnetic storm since 2003 took place, caused by five interacting CMEs. We clarify the relationship between the CMEs, their solar source regions, and the resulting signatures at the Sun-Earth L1 point observed by the ACE spacecraft at 1.00 AU. The STEREO-A spacecraft was situated at 0.956 AU and 12.6° west of Earth during the event, serving as a fortuitous sub-L1 monitor providing interplanetary magnetic field measurements of the solar wind. We demonstrate an extension of the prediction lead time, as the shock was observed 2.57 hours earlier at STEREO-A than at L1, consistent with the measured shock speed at L1, 710 km/s, and the radial distance of 0.04 AU. By deriving the geomagnetic indices based on the STEREO-A beacon data, we show that the strength of the geomagnetic storm would have been decently forecasted, with the modeled minimum SYM-H=-478.5 nT, underestimating the observed minimum by only 8%. Our study sets an unprecedented benchmark for future mission design using upstream monitoring for space weather prediction.
title First observations of a geomagnetic superstorm with a sub-L1 monitor
topic Space Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2411.12490