GOLD observations of the thermospheric response to the 10-12 May 2024
geomagnetic storm
Abstract
After days of intense solar activity, active region AR3664 launched
seven CMEs towards Earth producing an extreme G5 geomagnetic storm
commencing at 16:45 UT on Saturday May 10, 2024. The storm impacted
power grids, disrupted precision navigational systems used by farming
equipment, and generated aurora seen around the globe. The storm
produced remarkable effects on composition, temperature, and dynamics in
the Earth’s thermosphere that were observed by NASA’s Global-scale
Observations of the Limb and Disk (GOLD) mission and are reported here
for the first time. We use synoptic disk images of ΣO/N2 and neutral
temperature (at ~160 km) measured by GOLD to directly
link dynamics resulting from the storm with dramatic changes in
thermospheric composition and temperature. We observe an apparent
rotation simultaneously in ΣO/N2, neutral temperature, and total
electron content. Equator-to-pole temperature differences reach 400 K
with peak neutral temperatures near 160 km exceeding 1400 K at high
latitudes.