GOLD Observations of the Merging of the Southern Crest of the Equatorial
Ionization Anomaly and Aurora During the 10-11 May 2024 Mother's Day
Super Geomagnetic Storm
Abstract
Using NASA’s Global-scale Observations of the Limb and Disk (GOLD)
imager, we report nightside ionospheric changes during the G5 super
geomagnetic storm of 10-11 May 2024. Specifically, the nightside
southern crest of the Equatorial Ionization Anomaly (EIA) was observed
to merge with the aurora near the southern tip of South America. During
the storm, the EIA southern crest was seen moving poleward as fast as
450 m/s. Furthermore, the aurora extended to mid-latitudes reaching the
southern tips of Africa and South America. The poleward shift of the
equatorial ionospheric structure and equatorward motion of the aurora
means there was no mid-latitude ionosphere in this region. These
observations offer unique insights into the ionospheric response to
extreme geomagnetic disturbances, highlighting the complex interplay
between solar activity and Earth’s upper atmosphere.