Properties of Traveling Atmospheric Disturbances (TADs) Inferred From CHAMP and GRACE Accelerometer Observations

The accelerometers on the CHAMP and GRACE satellites have made it possible to accumulate near- continuous records of thermosphere density between about 370 and 490 km since May 2001, and July 2002, respectively. They have recorded the response to virtually every significant geomagnetic storm during this period. CHAMP and GRACE are in (near) polar and quasi-circular orbits, sampling 24 hr local time approximately every 4 and 5 months, respectively. These capabilities offer unique opportunities to study the temporal and latitudinal responses of the thermosphere to geomagnetic disturbances. Data from initially 34 geomagnetic storms were explored, but significant and unambiguous TAD activity in the observed response of the thermosphere was detected for about half the events. The atmospheric variability is evaluated by de-trending the data, allowing the extraction of specific ranges in horizontal scale, and analyzing density "residuals". The scale of the perturbation is decisive for its lifetime and relative amplitude. Sometimes the disturbances represent wave-like structures propagating far from the source, and these so- called 'TADs' were detected and described for the May 2003 storm for the first time. Some TADs traveled over the pole into the opposite hemisphere; this was found in both CHAMP and GRACE data. Most TADs propagate equatorward, but poleward propagating TADs have on occasion been detected too. The estimated speeds of the observed TADs are of the order of 400-900 m/s, and their mean scale is approximately 2000 km. The TADs observed with GRACE are significantly slower than those seen in the CHAMP data. The opposite is expected from theory: speed increasing with altitude.