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The main feature of the geomagnetic disturbance which occurred on September 7–8, 2017, was that it consisted of two consecutive magnetic storms separated in time by ∼13 h. It was of interest to reveal its particular features, characteristics and geomagnetic field variations during both storms and the influence they had on the ionosphere. The results are as follows. The character of the development of the first storm and its impact on the Earth’s magnetosphere and ionosphere are significantly different from the character of the development and impact of the second storm. There are prominent differences in the geomagnetic field variations at different longitudes along the same latitude sector. The asymmetry of the dayside and nightside effects was revealed. The variations of the riometer absorption level, critical frequencies of the ionosphere and Total Electron Content in each considered observation point corresponded to the variations of the magnetic field at this point.

Possible ionospheric effects of the Morelian meteoroid that passed and exploded over Mexico on 19 February 2020 (18 February 2020 local time) were estimated. The meteoroid trajectory, velocity and time of occurrence were calculated based on outdoor camera records. Modeling was used to estimate the meteoroid initial diameter, density, mass, velocity, energy and their change during its flight in the atmosphere. The ensemble of ionospheric scintillation indices calculated from the high-rate GNSS data and the filtered slant Total Electron Content data were used to reveal the presence of ionospheric disturbances generated by shock waves excited by the meteoroid flight and explosion. The first ionospheric responses to phenomena accompanying the meteoroid were detected (2.5–3.5) min after the explosion. The disturbances were attenuated quickly with distance from their source and were rarely recorded by GNSS receivers located more than 600 km from the meteoroid explosion site. The ionospheric disturbances of intermediate-scale, small-scale, shock-acoustic-wave-scale and sometimes medium-scale were revealed. The detected disturbances corresponded to the range of acoustic-gravity waves. An asymmetry of the disturbance manifestation in different directions was observed. The obtained results are in accordance with results of the observation of other meteoroids. Although the object was smaller and of less energy than other known meteoroids, it is an interesting case because, to the best of our knowledge, it isthe first known to us low-latitude meteoroid with the detected ionospheric effects.

The study is focused on Total Electron Content (TEC) behavior in low-latitude North-American region within the twelve-year period from 2005 to 2016. The obtained systematic (regular) TEC variations (diurnal, seasonal patterns) conform to the known tendencies described by climatological TEC models. TEC variations during disturbances have a number of distinctive features. The majority of positive TEC enhancements occur already with Dst

Early Warning of Space Weather phenomena is one of the most important products produced by Mexican Space Weather Service (SCiESMEX). The aim is to deliver a verified warning to Mexican National Center for Disaster Prevention (CENAPRED) as well as to general public in near-real time automatically. First, the international pubic warning (or alert) is produced by Space Weather Prediction Center of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S.A. Further, the alert is received by SCiESMEX system, decodified, translated in Spanish and put in the context of local current conditions. The alerts are transformed and validated in agreement to Mexican policies of civil protection and CENAPRED protocols. The automatic system segments the information and delivers the corresponding web- page-alerts, emails, twits, facebook messages and SMS. The latency of the alert is 5 minutes. The code is running since January of 2015 without major interruptions.

The case of the anomalous signal propagation in the low-latitude American sector is studied. The possibility of the signal reflection from the electron density gradient caused by the northern crest of the equatorial ionization anomaly at the background of geomagnetic activity increase is considered. In the absence of other probable causes, it seems that the short-time anomalous signal reflection from the density gradient is possible when the local geomagnetic index Kmex is more or equal to 5 during the evening hours.

Legislative modifications of the General Civil Protection Law in Mexico in 2014 included specific references to space hazards and space weather phenomena. The legislation is consistent with United Nations promotion of international engagement and cooperation on space weather awareness, studies and monitoring. These internal and external conditions motivated the creation of a space weather service in Mexico. The Mexican Space Weather Service (SCiESMEX in Spanish) (www.sciesmex.unam.mx) was initiated in October 2014 and is operated by the Institute of Geophysics at the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico (UNAM). SCiESMEX became a Regional Warning Center of the International Space Environment Services (ISES) in June 2015. We present the characteristics of the service, some products and the initial actions for developing a space weather strategy in Mexico. The service operates a computing infrastructure including a web application, data repository and a high-performance computing server to run numerical models. SCiESMEX uses data of the ground-based instrumental network of the National Space Weather Laboratory (LANCE), covering solar radio burst emissions, solar wind and interplanetary disturbances (by interplanetary scintillation observations), geomagnetic measurements, and analysis of the total electron content (TEC) of the ionosphere (by employing data from local networks of GPS receiver stations).

The changes in the ionosphere during geomagnetic disturbances is one of the prominent Space Weather effects on the near-Earth environment. The character of these changes can differ significantly at different regions on the Earth. We studied ionospheric response to five geomagnetic storms of March 2012, using data of Total Electron Content (TEC) and F2-layer critical frequency (foF2) along the meridian of 70&deg, W in the Northern Hemisphere. There are few ionosondes along this longitudinal sector: in Thule, Sondrestrom, Millstone Hill and Puerto Rico. The lacking foF2 values between the ionosondes were determined by using the experimental latitudinal dependences of the equivalent ionospheric slab thickness and TEC values. During geomagnetic storms, the following features were characteristic: (a) two-hours (or longer in one case) delay of the ionospheric response to disturbances, (b) the more prominent mid-latitude trough and (c) the sharper border of the EIA northern crest. During four storms of 7&ndash, 17 March, the general tendency was the transition from negative disturbances at high latitudes to intense positive disturbances at low latitudes. During the fifth storm, the negative ionospheric disturbance controlled by O/N2 change was masked by the overall prolonged electron density increase during 21&ndash, 31 March. The multiple correlation analysis revealed the latitudinal dependence of dominant Space Weather parameters&rsquo, impacts on foF2.

With the advent of the Navigation Satellites the Total Electron Content (TEC) has become one of the main parameters of the ionosphere. This is the result of a continuous TEC monitoring and rather dense network of GPS receivers. For Mexican region having no ionosondes the use of TEC for ionospheric conditions studies and monitoring has a special value. To study the behaviour of TEC and for its applied aspects two types of source-files are used worldwide: IONEX (global maps) and RINEX (local data) depending on the task solved. Magnetometer and satellite data from CHAMP and DMSP were involved in the analysis. First, benefits and limitations of TEC derived from both types of files are discussed in regard to the estimation of the ionosphere state in the Mexican region. Second, using both methods the specific features of diurnal, seasonal and annual patterns in TEC behaviour over Mexico were revealed, among which are the shift of the diurnal maximum to 14 LT, dependence on solar activity, high probability of night-time enhancements, presence of annual and winter anomalies. Third, it was revealed that the positive short-lived TEC enhancements are characteristic for Mexican region. They may occur even under quiet conditions. The answer is given what part of the ionosphere is responsible for TEC change during these positive disturbances. The results for Mexico were compared to the neighboring regions and South-East zone.

The ionosphere behaviour over Mexico was studied. We analysed variations of Total Electron Content (TEC) and critical frequency of F2-layer of the ionosphere (foF2). TEC values were extracted from data of local GNSS receivers and if missed then from global ionospheric maps. foF2 values were reconstructed using TEC measured over Mexico and equivalent slab thickness of the ionosphere measured in the adjacent to Mexico regions having ionosondes. Diurnal and seasonal patterns of TEC and foF2 behaviour over Mexico were revealed. The peculiarity of TEC behaviour during disturbances were studied. The presence of strong positive enhancements is a characteristic feature for Mexico that is confirmed by measurements of electron concentration at satellites CHAMP and DSMP.

We present an analytic model of a stationary bow shock which describes the interaction between a supermagnetosonic ambient wind and an obstacle with spherical-like frontal shape. We develop expressions for the bow shock’s geometry and the physical properties of the plasma sheath as functions of the upstream conditions. The solution is limited to magnetic fields parallel to the upstream velocity. The model allows to use any value of the upstream alfvenic and sonic Mach numbers and the polytropic index ( γ ), pointing out the influence of γ for the magnetosheath compression and the bow shock shape. When both Mach numbers are small, the upstream magnetic field intensity affects also the bow shock shape. We compare our results with other models finding important consistencies. We also compare our results with in-situ data, we fund a reasonable qualitative agreement; however, it seems that our model underestimates the magnetosheath size.

Interplanetary Coronal mass ejections (ICMEs) (super-magnetosonically) faster than the ambient solar wind are preceded by shock waves. Earth-directed shock waves, plasma sheaths and ICMEs are precursors of the major geomagnetic storms. The plasma sheath between the shock and the ICME leading edge plays a very important role to determine the geoeffectiveness of the events. There are multiple efforts (empirical, analytical and numerical) to forecast ICME–shock transit times and arrival speeds to 1 AU. We present a formalism (combining analytical and empirical solutions) to compute trajectories of fast halo Earth directed ICMEs, plasma sheaths, and shocks. This formalism combines the ‘piston-shock’ semi-empirical model (Corona-Romero et al., 2013), and the MHD polytropic jump relations (Petrinec and Russell, 1997) to approximate the 1 AU plasma sheath and ICME properties. Nine Earth directed ICME–shock cases, including the “Bastille” and “Halloween” events were analyzed. The model obtained compares well with in situ data. Finally, we found a possible empiric relation for the free parameter of our formalism. If this empiric relationship is confirmed, it could turn this formalism into a space weather forecasting tool.

Semi-empirical models of the solar Chromosphere show in their emission spectrum, tomography property at millimeter, sub-millimeter, and infrared wavelengths for the center of the solar disk. In this work, we studied this property in the solar limb using our numerical code PakalMPI, focusing in the region where the solar atmosphere becomes optically thick. Individual contribution of Bremsstrahlung and H- opacities was take into account in the radiative transfer process. We found that the tomography property remains in all the spectrum region under study at limb altitudes. For frequencies be- tween 2 GHz and 5 THz the contribution of Bremsstrahlung is the dominant process above the solar limb., Accepted in Advances in Space Research

We present a study about the propagation of interplanetary shock waves driven by super magnetosonic coronal mass ejections (CMEs). The discussion focuses on a model which describes the dynamic relationship between the CME and its driven shock and the way to approximate the trajectory of shocks based on those relationships, from near the Sun to 1 AU. We apply the model to the analysis of a case study in which our calculations show quantitative and qualitative agreements with different kinds of data. We discuss the importance of solar wind and CME initial conditions on the shock wave evolution.

We present a physical methodology to reconstruct the trajectory of interplanetary shocks using type II radio emission data. This technique calculates the shock trajectory assuming that the disturbance propagates as a blast wave in the interplanetary medium. We applied this Blast Wave Reconstruction (BWR) technique to analyze eight fast Earth-directed ICMEs/shocks associated with type II emissions. The technique deduces a shock trajectory that reproduces the type II frequency drifts, and calculates shock onset speed, shock transit time and shock speed at 1 AU. There were good agreements comparing the BWR results with the type II spectra, with data from coronagraph images, in situ measurements, and interplanetary scintillation (IPS) observations. Perturbations on the type II data affect the accuracy of the BWR technique. This methodology could be applied to track interplanetary shocks causing TII emissions in real-time, to predict the shock arrival time and shock speed at 1 AU., Comment: Submitted to Solar Physics. In revision

[1] We analyze the heliocentric evolution of fast interplanetary counterparts of coronal mass ejections (ICMEs) and their transient shocks to investigate how and where they decelerate in the interplanetary medium. We employ two one-dimensional hydrodynamic models, analytic and numeric, to study three fast CME events. We focus on the transferring of momentum from the ICME to the shock. The two models show that initially the fast ICME propagates at about a constant speed and drives the shock (driving stage) until it reaches a certain distance from which it decelerates and decouples from the shock (decoupling process). Then the ICME and its shock decelerate (decaying stage). This deceleration depends on the speed difference with respect to the ambient wind and tends to a negligible value when the ICME-shock approaches to the ambient wind speed. The location and duration of these propagation stages depend on the initial CME conditions and the ambient wind characteristics. We present a parametric study to compare the results by the analytic and numeric models, showing the variations of their results as a function of the initial conditions. We perform three study cases to compare the model's predictions with a set of speed measurements of ICME-shock events.