Ionospheric response to the 26 August 2018 geomagnetic storm along 280° E and 316° E in the South American sector

Abstract

This paper studies the response of the ionospheric parameters critical frequency (foF2), their height (hmF2), and Total Electron Content (TEC) at mid, low, and near-equatorial latitudes of the South American sector during the intense geomagnetic storm of 26 August 2018. The ionospheric response at the beginning of the main phase was different depending on latitude (in general, there were decreases in foF2 at near-equatorial and low latitudes and small increases at mid-latitudes). During the recovery, positive storm effects in foF2 and TEC were observed almost all day on 26 August 2018 overall the stations along all the latitudes and also on 27 August. The initial effects were possibly caused by a weak prompt penetration electric field while the enhanced ratio of thermosphere neutral composition i.e. [O]/[N2] was considered as the main cause for the positive storm effects during the recovery phase.