Thermosphere response to the May 2024 geomagnetic storm over the South American sector
L. A. Navarro (University of Colorado - Boulder)
B. G. Fejer (Utah State University)
J. W. Meriwether (New Jersey Institute of Technology)
C. Martinis (Boston University)
S. R. Zhang (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
R. Kerr (Computational Physics Inc.)
J. R. Souza (National Institute for Space Research (INPE))
C. Siemes (TU Delft - Aerospace Engineering)
E. Doornbos (TU Delft - Aerospace Engineering)
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Abstract
We examined the thermospheric wind and temperature response over the South American sector during the main and early recovery phases of the 10–11 May 2024 geomagnetic superstorm. Our coordinated set of Fabry-Perot Interferometer (FPI), satellite-derived, and radar observations were obtained from observatories located at El Leoncito (Argentina, 31.8°S, 69.3°W), Cachoeira Paulista (Brazil, 22.7°S, 45°W), Santarém (Brazil, 2.4°S, 54.7°W), and Jicamarca (Peru, 11.96°S, 76.86°W), as well as from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment Follow-On (GRACE-FO) 1 satellite. The observations reveal a prompt low-latitude response to the storm sudden commencement, characterized by strong upward and westward plasma drifts and nearly simultaneous westward neutral wind disturbances, followed by intense nighttime thermospheric perturbations with pronounced longitudinal and latitudinal variability. Zonal winds were initially weakly eastward over El Leoncito and strongly westward over Cachoeira Paulista before evolving to strongly westward and weakly eastward at early morning over each site respectively. Transhemispheric meridional wind surges of ∼100 m/s at equatorial latitudes coincided with large-scale traveling ionospheric disturbances, while El Leoncito and Cachoeira Paulista exhibited mild meridional disturbances. Thermospheric temperatures were significantly enhanced throughout the night, with superimposed impulsive enhancements. These features are consistent with wind-field reorganizations and vertical motions, suggesting adiabatic processes associated with traveling atmospheric disturbances (TADs). These results provide new observational constraints on the low-latitude thermospheric response during an extreme geomagnetic storm and highlight the importance of neutral dynamics in storm-time thermosphere–ionosphere coupling.
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