<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE article PUBLIC "-//NLM//DTD Journal Publishing DTD v3.0 20080202//EN" "https://jats.nlm.nih.gov/nlm-dtd/publishing/3.0/journalpublishing3.dtd">
<article xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" article-type="research-article" specific-use="SMUR" dtd-version="3.0" xml:lang="en">
<front>
<journal-meta>
<journal-id journal-id-type="publisher">EGUsphere</journal-id>
<journal-title-group>
<journal-title>EGUsphere</journal-title>
<abbrev-journal-title abbrev-type="publisher">EGUsphere</abbrev-journal-title>
<abbrev-journal-title abbrev-type="nlm-ta">EGUsphere</abbrev-journal-title>
</journal-title-group>
<issn pub-type="epub"></issn>
<publisher><publisher-name>Copernicus Publications</publisher-name>
<publisher-loc>Göttingen, Germany</publisher-loc>
</publisher>
</journal-meta>
<article-meta>
<article-id pub-id-type="doi">10.5194/egusphere-2026-1763</article-id>
<title-group>
<article-title>Global Ionospheric Response to the 17 March 2015 Geomagnetic Storm: A Multi-Station and Multi-Parameter Study</article-title>
</title-group>
<contrib-group><contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>O Nair</surname>
<given-names>Lekshmi</given-names>
<ext-link>https://orcid.org/0009-0005-9280-6080</ext-link>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
</contrib-group><aff id="aff1">
<label>1</label>
<addr-line>St Berchmans College (Autonomous), Mahatma Gandhi University, Kerala, India</addr-line>
</aff>
<pub-date pub-type="epub">
<day>26</day>
<month>05</month>
<year>2026</year>
</pub-date>
<volume>2026</volume>
<fpage>1</fpage>
<lpage>20</lpage>
<permissions>
<copyright-statement>Copyright: &#x000a9; 2026 Lekshmi O Nair</copyright-statement>
<copyright-year>2026</copyright-year>
<license license-type="open-access">
<license-p>This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this licence, visit <ext-link ext-link-type="uri"  xlink:href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/</ext-link></license-p>
</license>
</permissions>
<self-uri xlink:href="https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2026/egusphere-2026-1763/">This article is available from https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2026/egusphere-2026-1763/</self-uri>
<self-uri xlink:href="https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2026/egusphere-2026-1763/egusphere-2026-1763.pdf">The full text article is available as a PDF file from https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2026/egusphere-2026-1763/egusphere-2026-1763.pdf</self-uri>
<abstract>
<p>The global ionospheric response to the St. Patrick&amp;rsquo;s Day Storm during 15&amp;ndash;20 March 2015 is investigated using a comprehensive set of ground-based and satellite observations. Ionospheric parameters (foF2, hmF2, and h&amp;prime;F) from ionosonde stations distributed across different longitude sectors are analyzed in conjunction with geomagnetic field variations (H-component), thermospheric composition (O/N₂), and geomagnetic indices (Dst and Kp) to examine the coupled magnetosphere&amp;ndash;ionosphere&amp;ndash;thermosphere system.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;During the main phase of the storm (17 March), a pronounced uplift of the F-region is observed at equatorial and low-latitude stations in both western and eastern longitude sectors, indicating the presence of enhanced eastward prompt penetration electric fields (PPEF). The associated increase in hmF2 and h&amp;prime;F, followed by enhancement in foF2, confirms the occurrence of a positive ionospheric storm driven by storm-time electrodynamics. The H-component exhibits a significant decrease across all stations, reflecting the intensification of the ring current, while enhanced fluctuations at higher latitudes indicate the contribution of auroral electrojets and field-aligned currents.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The thermospheric response, characterized by variations in the O/N₂ ratio, shows depletion during the main phase due to storm-time upwelling, followed by a marked increase during the recovery phase (18&amp;ndash;19 March), indicating a transition toward an oxygen-rich thermosphere. This compositional change contributes to reduced recombination rates and sustained enhancement in electron density. The evolution of the equatorial electric field further reveals a transition from PPEF-dominated dynamics during the main phase to disturbance dynamo electric field (DDEF) effects during the recovery phase.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Overall, the results demonstrate that the ionospheric response to the storm is governed by a combination of prompt electrodynamic forcing and delayed thermospheric processes, with global coherence across longitude sectors and modulation by latitude and local time.</p>
</abstract>
<counts><page-count count="20"/></counts>
</article-meta>
</front>
<body/>
<back>
</back>
</article>