TY - JOUR
T1 - Unexpected space weather causing the reentry of 38 Starlink satellites in February 2022
AU - Kataoka, Ryuho
AU - Shiota, Daikou
AU - Fujiwara, Hitoshi
AU - Jin, Hidekatsu
AU - Tao, Chihiro
AU - Shinagawa, Hiroyuki
AU - Miyoshi, Yasunobu
N1 - Funding Information:
Data use SDO/AIA is through the courtesy of NASA/SDO and the AIA science teams. SOHO is a project of international cooperation between ESA and NASA. DSCOVR Magnetometer 1 min averages are obtained from DSCOVR Space Weather Data Portal (NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center, 2016; https://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/dscovr/portal ). The STEREO-A IMPACT beacon data is provided from NASA STEREO Science Center ( https://stereo-ssc.nascom.nasa.gov/data/beacon/ahead/impact/2022/02/ ). The Dst and ap indices are provided from Kyoto University, via NASA/OMNI website ( https://omniweb.gsfc.nasa.gov/ow.html ). RK thanks Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology for hosting his sabbatical visit. DS is supported by JSPS KAKENHI 21H04492. YM, HJ, CT, HS, HF are supported by JSPS KAKENHI 21H01150, JP20K04037. HJ and HS are supported by 20K04037. CT, YM, and HF are supported by JSPS KAKENHI 19K03942. The editor thanks two anonymous reviewers for their assistance in evaluating this paper.
Publisher Copyright:
© R. Kataoka et al., Published by EDP Sciences 2022.
PY - 2022
Y1 - 2022
N2 - The accidental reentry of 38 Starlink satellites occurred in early February 2022, associated with the occurrence of moderate magnetic storms. A poorly understood structure of Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) caused the magnetic storms at unexpected timing. Therefore, a better understanding of minor CME structures is necessary for the modern space weather forecast. During this event, the-up to 50% enhancement of air drag force was observed at ~200 km altitude, preventing the satellites'safety operations. Although the mass density enhancement predicted by the NRLMSIS2.0 empirical model is less than 25% under the present moderate magnetic storms, the real-time GAIA simulation showed a mass density enhancement of up to 50%. Further, the real-time GAIA simulation suggests that the actual thermospheric disturbances at 200 km altitude may occur with larger amplitude in a broader area than previously thought.
AB - The accidental reentry of 38 Starlink satellites occurred in early February 2022, associated with the occurrence of moderate magnetic storms. A poorly understood structure of Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) caused the magnetic storms at unexpected timing. Therefore, a better understanding of minor CME structures is necessary for the modern space weather forecast. During this event, the-up to 50% enhancement of air drag force was observed at ~200 km altitude, preventing the satellites'safety operations. Although the mass density enhancement predicted by the NRLMSIS2.0 empirical model is less than 25% under the present moderate magnetic storms, the real-time GAIA simulation showed a mass density enhancement of up to 50%. Further, the real-time GAIA simulation suggests that the actual thermospheric disturbances at 200 km altitude may occur with larger amplitude in a broader area than previously thought.
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U2 - 10.1051/swsc/2022034
DO - 10.1051/swsc/2022034
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85136699722
SN - 2115-7251
VL - 12
JO - Journal of Space Weather and Space Climate
JF - Journal of Space Weather and Space Climate
IS - 31
M1 - 41
ER -