Modeling atmospheric effects of the September 1859 solar flare

• Published in: Geophysical research letters Vol. 34; no. 6; pp. L06810 - n/a
• Main Authors: Thomas, B. C., Jackman, C. H., Melott, A. L.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Geophysical Union 01-03-2007; Blackwell Publishing Ltd
• Subjects: Astrobiology and extraterrestrial materials; Atmosphere; Atmospheric Composition and Structure; Biogeosciences; composition and chemistry; Earth sciences; Earth, ocean, space; Exact sciences and technology; Global Change; Middle atmosphere; solar flares; Arctic region; Greenland; atmosphere; solar flares; depletion; magnetic storms; Atmosphere model; Nitrogen compounds; nitrates; Modeling; ozone; Solar flare; drill cores; extreme value; polar regions; protons; Solar proton event
• ISSN: 0094-8276; 1944-8007
• DOI: 10.1029/2006GL029174

We have modeled atmospheric effects, especially ozone depletion, due to a solar proton event which probably accompanied the extreme magnetic storm of 1–2 September 1859. We use an inferred proton fluence for this event as estimated from nitrate levels in Greenland ice cores. We present results showing production of odd nitrogen compounds and their impact on ozone. We also compute rainout of nitrate in our model and compare to values from ice core data.