Response of the lower atmosphere to intense geomagnetic storms

Abstract

In this short paper we examine the possible connection between atmospheric parameters measured at low and middle altitudes and geomagnetic storms occurred in 2000 and 2003. For that, from a chain of stations located near the meridian 60°W we compare the storm time values of temperature and wind speed with their standard deviation 2σ obtained from quiet time values. We observed statistically significant variations at several altitudes during the storm recovery phase and after it, both in neutral wind speed and temperature. The results obtained suggest that atmospheric parameters could be affected by geomagnetic storms.