Scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory have discovered a previously unknown atmospheric phenomenon that can arise from powerful solar flares. It turned out that geomagnetic storms lead to the disappearance of a large number of charged electrons from the Earth's ionosphere, which can lead to disruptions in radio communications. The researchers' article was published in the journal Radio Science. This is reported by the Gizmodo edition.
Geomagnetic storms occur when particles in a coronal mass ejection collide with the Earth's magnetic field. In this case, bursts of electric charge can occur in the atmosphere - whole clouds of ions appear.
Scientists observed a similar phenomenon on February 19, 2014 after two powerful emissions. To do this, they used a network of global navigation satellites GNSS and magnetic observatories around the world. Specially developed software was used to process the obtained data.
The specialists noticed that, although individual bursts of electric charge were recorded over northern Greenland, in general, the ionosphere lost a large number of free electrons. They found extensive "holes" with a diameter of 500-1000 kilometers with a very small number of charged particles. This state of the atmosphere lasted for several days.
Researchers do not yet know the exact reasons for the phenomenon, but explain it by the fact that electrons recombine with positively charged particles or are expelled from certain regions of the ionosphere in horizontal or vertical directions. Since they are capable of reflecting radio waves, their deficiency can lead to disruptions in radio communications.