Abstract

During magnetic storms, scintillation is instigated by significant disturbances in the ionosphere that deviate from the mean level. Utilizing global ionospheric TEC and ROTI data, this study analyzes the global ionospheric impact during the substantial magnetic storm of December 2015. The analysis reveals that during the magnetic storm, the southern hemisphere ionosphere was primarily characterized by positive-phase storms, whereas the northern hemisphere exhibited brief positive-phase storms succeeded by prolonged and intense negative-phase storms. The response to magnetic storms is more pronounced at low to mid-latitudes compared to high latitudes, with ionospheric irregularities in the equatorial region being particularly significant. Analysis of changes in the high-latitude ionospheric ROTI map for the northern hemisphere during the magnetic storm indicates substantial ionospheric irregularities at high-latitude poles, characterized by large elliptical structures, suggesting the occurrence of a significant ionospheric scintillation event. The findings indicate pronounced temporal and spatial differences in ionospheric variations throughout this magnetic storm.