Solar storms can “steal” an electric charge

Solar storms can “steal” an electric charge

A new study shows that solar storms not only reproduce regions with excessive electrical charge in the upper atmosphere above the poles, but also act in the opposite direction - “trick” them.

A group of researchers studied the storm on February 19, 2014. Its impact has spread to all earthly latitudes. The impact on Greenland was recorded by the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) network.

Solar storms are often accompanied by eruptions — the ejection of coronal mass (ECM). This is a cloud consisting of electrically charged particles that violate the interplanetary magnetic field of the solar system. When they crash into the magnetic field of our planet, they interact, creating a disturbance on our part — geomagnetic storms. This leads to unstable accumulations of excess electrons in the ionosphere (80 km above the surface). The event in 2014 was due to the impact of two powerful VKM. At first, the storm created clusters of additional electrons over northern Greenland. But the researchers were surprised when, to the south of them, they noticed areas of 500-1000 km, where there were no electrons at all. “Robbed” they remained a few more days.

Electrons in the ionosphere are important because they reflect radio waves, and provide radio communication at great distances. Electronic robbery and their sudden jumps can lead to problems with radio communications, impair the accuracy of GPS systems, and damage to satellites and electrical networks.

There is no exact reason for the “theft”, but researchers say that electrons can recombine with positively charged ions until excess electrons appear. Or there is a redistribution (electrons are repelled not only horizontally, but also vertically).

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