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Imaging the May 2024 Extreme Aurora with Ionospheric Total Electron Content
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  • John C Foster,
  • Philip J Erickson,
  • Yukitoshi (Toshi) Nishimura,
  • Shun-Rong Zhang,
  • Daniel C Bush,
  • Anthea J. Coster,
  • Paul Meade,
  • Eframir Franco-Diaz
John C Foster
Massachusetts Institute of Technology Haystack Observatory

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Philip J Erickson
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
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Yukitoshi (Toshi) Nishimura
Boston University
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Shun-Rong Zhang
MIT Haystack Observatory
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Daniel C Bush
Missouri Skies Observatory
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Anthea J. Coster
Haystack Observatory Mass. Inst.Technology
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Paul Meade
Computational Physics,Inc.
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Eframir Franco-Diaz
Computational Physics, Inc.
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Abstract

The continental United States is well instrumented with facilities for mid-latitude upper atmosphere research that operate on a continuous basis. In addition, citizen scientists provide a wealth of information when unusual events occur. We combine ionospheric total electron content (TEC) data from distributed arrays of GNSS receivers, magnetometer chains, and auroral observations obtained by citizen scientists, to provide a detailed view of the intense auroral breakup and westward surge occurring at the peak of the 10-11 May 2024 extreme geomagnetic storm. Over a 20-min interval, vertical TEC (vTEC) increased at unusually low latitude (~45°) and rapidly expanded azimuthally across the continent. Individual receiver/satellite data sets indicate sharp bursts of greatly elevated of vTEC (~50 TECu). Intense red aurora was co-located with the leading edge of the equatorward and westward TEC enhancements, indicating that the large TEC enhancement was created by extremely intense low-energy precipitation during the rapid substorm breakup.
21 Aug 2024Submitted to ESS Open Archive
22 Aug 2024Published in ESS Open Archive