Measurements and Modeling of the Responses of VLF Transmitter Signals to X‐Class Solar Flares at the Great Wall Station in Antarctica
Abstract Solar flares can severely disturb the Earth's ionosphere, leading to changes of atmospheric chemistry and degradation of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signals. The key to better assess these effects is to more accurately quantify the electron density enhancements induced by...
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Wiley
2023-04-01
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| Series: | Space Weather |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1029/2022SW003249 |
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| author | Wei Xu Xudong Gu Binbin Ni Shiwei Wang Zhe Yang Wen Cheng Ze‐Jun Hu Fang He Bin Li Xiang‐Cai Chen Jian‐Jun Liu Hong‐Qiao Hu |
| author_facet | Wei Xu Xudong Gu Binbin Ni Shiwei Wang Zhe Yang Wen Cheng Ze‐Jun Hu Fang He Bin Li Xiang‐Cai Chen Jian‐Jun Liu Hong‐Qiao Hu |
| author_sort | Wei Xu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Solar flares can severely disturb the Earth's ionosphere, leading to changes of atmospheric chemistry and degradation of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signals. The key to better assess these effects is to more accurately quantify the electron density enhancements induced by solar flares, which is still uncertain. Thanks to the good coverage and quiet electromagnetic environment provided by the Great Wall Station (GWS, 62.22°S, 58.96°W) in Antarctica, our Very‐Low‐Frequency (VLF) receiver has recorded clean VLF signatures produced by three X‐class solar flares from March to May in 2022. These measurements motivate us to revisit the uncertain question related to the ionospheric effects induced by solar flares. Different from previous studies, we model solar flare events from satellite measurements of X‐ray fluxes to ground‐based measurements of VLF transmitter signals by combining a flare irradiance model, an X‐ray propagation model, a D‐region chemistry model, and a VLF propagation model. For eight transmitting frequencies and propagation paths, modeling results can satisfactorily explain our VLF measurements at GWS during the three X‐class flares, especially so for the X1.3 event occurring on 30 March 2022. Moreover, the electron density results that reconcile space‐ and ground‐based measurements suggest that the VLF reflection height can be lowered to ∼66 km by an X1.1 flare, in line with previous studies. The present set of numerical models can be thus utilized in future studies to improve the nowcasting capability of VLF sensing technique for monitoring solar flares, as well as the accuracy of GNSS navigation/positioning during solar flares. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-22a03f8dd06743098dabcd9c77937687 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1542-7390 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2023-04-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Space Weather |
| spelling | doaj-art-22a03f8dd06743098dabcd9c779376872025-01-14T16:26:47ZengWileySpace Weather1542-73902023-04-01214n/an/a10.1029/2022SW003249Measurements and Modeling of the Responses of VLF Transmitter Signals to X‐Class Solar Flares at the Great Wall Station in AntarcticaWei Xu0Xudong Gu1Binbin Ni2Shiwei Wang3Zhe Yang4Wen Cheng5Ze‐Jun Hu6Fang He7Bin Li8Xiang‐Cai Chen9Jian‐Jun Liu10Hong‐Qiao Hu11School of Electronic Information Wuhan University Wuhan ChinaSchool of Electronic Information Wuhan University Wuhan ChinaSchool of Electronic Information Wuhan University Wuhan ChinaSchool of Electronic Information Wuhan University Wuhan ChinaCollege of Surveying and Geo‐Informatics Tongji University Shanghai ChinaSchool of Electronic Information Wuhan University Wuhan ChinaMNR Key Laboratory for Polar Science Polar Research Institute of China Shanghai ChinaMNR Key Laboratory for Polar Science Polar Research Institute of China Shanghai ChinaMNR Key Laboratory for Polar Science Polar Research Institute of China Shanghai ChinaMNR Key Laboratory for Polar Science Polar Research Institute of China Shanghai ChinaMNR Key Laboratory for Polar Science Polar Research Institute of China Shanghai ChinaMNR Key Laboratory for Polar Science Polar Research Institute of China Shanghai ChinaAbstract Solar flares can severely disturb the Earth's ionosphere, leading to changes of atmospheric chemistry and degradation of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signals. The key to better assess these effects is to more accurately quantify the electron density enhancements induced by solar flares, which is still uncertain. Thanks to the good coverage and quiet electromagnetic environment provided by the Great Wall Station (GWS, 62.22°S, 58.96°W) in Antarctica, our Very‐Low‐Frequency (VLF) receiver has recorded clean VLF signatures produced by three X‐class solar flares from March to May in 2022. These measurements motivate us to revisit the uncertain question related to the ionospheric effects induced by solar flares. Different from previous studies, we model solar flare events from satellite measurements of X‐ray fluxes to ground‐based measurements of VLF transmitter signals by combining a flare irradiance model, an X‐ray propagation model, a D‐region chemistry model, and a VLF propagation model. For eight transmitting frequencies and propagation paths, modeling results can satisfactorily explain our VLF measurements at GWS during the three X‐class flares, especially so for the X1.3 event occurring on 30 March 2022. Moreover, the electron density results that reconcile space‐ and ground‐based measurements suggest that the VLF reflection height can be lowered to ∼66 km by an X1.1 flare, in line with previous studies. The present set of numerical models can be thus utilized in future studies to improve the nowcasting capability of VLF sensing technique for monitoring solar flares, as well as the accuracy of GNSS navigation/positioning during solar flares.https://doi.org/10.1029/2022SW003249solar flaresD‐region ionospheresubionospheric VLF signalsVLF remote sensingelectron densityVLF transmitter signals |
| spellingShingle | Wei Xu Xudong Gu Binbin Ni Shiwei Wang Zhe Yang Wen Cheng Ze‐Jun Hu Fang He Bin Li Xiang‐Cai Chen Jian‐Jun Liu Hong‐Qiao Hu Measurements and Modeling of the Responses of VLF Transmitter Signals to X‐Class Solar Flares at the Great Wall Station in Antarctica Space Weather solar flares D‐region ionosphere subionospheric VLF signals VLF remote sensing electron density VLF transmitter signals |
| title | Measurements and Modeling of the Responses of VLF Transmitter Signals to X‐Class Solar Flares at the Great Wall Station in Antarctica |
| title_full | Measurements and Modeling of the Responses of VLF Transmitter Signals to X‐Class Solar Flares at the Great Wall Station in Antarctica |
| title_fullStr | Measurements and Modeling of the Responses of VLF Transmitter Signals to X‐Class Solar Flares at the Great Wall Station in Antarctica |
| title_full_unstemmed | Measurements and Modeling of the Responses of VLF Transmitter Signals to X‐Class Solar Flares at the Great Wall Station in Antarctica |
| title_short | Measurements and Modeling of the Responses of VLF Transmitter Signals to X‐Class Solar Flares at the Great Wall Station in Antarctica |
| title_sort | measurements and modeling of the responses of vlf transmitter signals to x class solar flares at the great wall station in antarctica |
| topic | solar flares D‐region ionosphere subionospheric VLF signals VLF remote sensing electron density VLF transmitter signals |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1029/2022SW003249 |
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