Abstract Understanding the formation, progression, and global impact of Large Scale (LS) Traveling Ionospheric Disturbances (TIDs) is a long‐standing challenge in global space weather research. At high latitudes, the magnetosphere injects significant energy into the Ionosphere‐Thermosphere (I‐T) system through Joule heating, auroral particle heating, and ion drag. Traveling Atmospheric Disturbances (TADs) are a commonly observed thermospheric response to magnetospheric energy entering the I‐T system. These atmospheric waves are believed to drive a similar wave response in the ionosphere, known as TIDs. Large‐Scale Traveling Ionospheric Disturbances (LSTIDs) commonly travel from the equatorward edge of the auroral oval into the opposite hemisphere. This study examines the impact of LSTIDs on the topside equatorial ionosphere using a combination of observational and modeling methods. The geomagnetic storm that occurred on 25–26 March 2014 is used as a case study, because it contains a conjunction between two satellites that permits an analysis of the altitudinal differences in LSTIDs. The variations seen in the observations are then explored using I‐T model runs, which allow for a detailed analysis of the LSTID variations and their drivers. The model results qualitatively agree with the satellite observations, and demonstrate that it is possible for LSTIDs to reach the topside ionosphere at low latitudes through variations in the field‐aligned plasma drifts that are caused by the field‐aligned component of the neutral wind modifying the plasma density peak heights, resulting in conjugate differences that affect the field‐aligned plasma pressure gradient.
Burrell et al. (Thu,) studied this question.
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