Hemispheric Differences in Ionosphere–Thermosphere Responses to Traveling Atmospheric Disturbances
During geomagnetic storms, large amounts of electromagnetic energy are deposited into Earth’s ionosphere–thermosphere (I–T) system, primarily through Joule heating. This energy input can excite traveling atmospheric disturbances (TADs), which propagate globally and significantly impact the coupled I–T system. Notably, Joule heating often exhibits strong interhemispheric asymmetries (IHAs), leading to hemispheric differences in both the generation and propagation of TADs, as well as in the resulting I–T responses to storm-time energy input. Key questions remain open: How do the characteristics of TADs differ between the Northern and Southern Hemispheres? And to what extent do IHAs in TADs contribute to the interhemispheric asymmetries observed in the storm-time I–T system? In this presentation, I will highlight several recent data–model studies we have conducted that begin to address these questions, offering new insights into the complex interplay between IHAs in Joule heating, TAD dynamics, and storm-time variations in the I-T system.
Dr. Zhu is currently an Assistant Professor of Physics at The University of Texas at Dallas. He earned his Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Texas at Arlington in 2020, following a B.S. in Geophysics from the University of Science and Technology of China in 2015. He served as a postdoctoral fellow at UT Arlington (2020–2021) and as an ASP Postdoctoral Fellow at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) from 2021 to 2023. His current research focuses on using data-driven modeling to investigate interhemispheric asymmetry in the storm-time magnetosphere–ionosphere–thermosphere (MIT) coupling.