Abstract
Space weather is a significant threat to modern society. Charged
particles, Ground Induced Currents (GICs), and changes in the
magnetosphere and atmosphere threaten a wide range of critical
infrastructure on the Earth’s surface and in space. Possible damages may
be direct or indirect results of these natural hazards. Spatial
variations in magnetic disturbances during geomagnetic superstorms are
not well understood because such storms are rare. However, a growing
number of studies focus on these variations. Here, we show that the
strongest disturbances in the magnetic north (X) component during the
2024 Mother’s Day storm occurred at Nurmijärvi (NUR) station, which is
located at latitude 57° in Corrected Geomagnetic
(CGM) coordinates. During the 2003 Halloween storm, the largest
disturbances of this component occurred at Oulujärvi (OUJ) station,
which is located at latitude 61° (CGM). Superstorms
can have a stronger effect on the strength of the magnetic field in the
sub-auroral regions, making the lower latitudes prone to large regional
variations during the most powerful events. However, during the Mother’s
Day storm, the most significant time derivatives (dH/dt) of the magnetic
field, widely used as a proxy for GICs, occurred at higher latitudes
than during the Halloween storm. The spatial distribution of different
types of magnetic disturbances highlights the variability of the
magnetic weather coupled with the ground conductivity structure and
latitudinal influence.