Space Weather Events, Hurricanes, and Earthquakes in Mexico in September 2017

• Published in: Space weather 2018-12, Vol.16 (12), p.2038-2051
• Main Authors: Gonzalez‐Esparza, J. A., Sergeeva, M. A., Corona‐Romero, P., Mejia‐Ambriz, J. C., Gonzalez, L. X., De la Luz, V., Aguilar‐Rodriguez, E., Rodriguez, M., Romero‐Hernández, E.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Astronomical instruments; Celestial bodies; civil protection; Coronal mass ejection; Cosmic rays; Earth magnetosphere; Earthquakes; geomagnetic storm; Geomagnetic storm effects; Geomagnetic storms; Geomagnetism; Ground-based observation; Hazards; Hurricanes; Ionosphere; Ionospheric electron content; ionospheric perturbations; low‐latitude effects; Magnetic storms; Magnetosphere; Meteorological satellites; Meteorological services; natural hazards; Observatories; Radio bursts; Radio emission; Seismic activity; Solar activity; Solar corona; Solar flares; Space weather; Spectroscopy; Storms; Transits; Weather effects
• ISSN: 1542-7390; 1539-4964; 1542-7390
• DOI: 10.1029/2018SW001995

In the interval of 4–10 September 2017, the Sun presented multiple solar flares from active region AR 2673. There were also coronal mass ejections that interacted with the Earth's magnetosphere. This solar activity produced several space weather events. These events were observed with ground‐based instruments of the Mexican Space Weather Service. The Mexican Array RadioTelescope detected highly perturbed solar transits associated with Type I radio emissions from active regions. The Compact Astronomical Low‐frequency, Low‐cost Instrument for Spectroscopy in Transportable Observatories‐Mexican Array RadioTelescope station detected several radio bursts including a Type III associated with the X8.2 flare on 10 September. The magnetometer detected variations reaching a regional K index of 8.3 during the geomagnetic storm. The ionosphere over Mexico was disturbed by different space weather phenomena with the dominant effects of the geomagnetic storm. We used total electron content data to study latitudinal and longitudinal ionospheric effects in this interval. The cosmic rays monitor detected a Forbush decrease associated also with the geomagnetic storm. This low‐latitude instrumental network in Mexico allowed estimating the regional response to space weather events. Coincidentally with the space weather events referred above, there were also two other types of natural hazards affecting the country at that moment, the hurricane Katia category 2 in the Gulf of Mexico, and two major earthquakes (7 and 19 September 2018). The conjunction of these natural phenomena were close to creating a worst‐case scenario in terms of civil protection reaction. Key Points A unique combination of three natural hazards affected Mexico in September 2017, important lessons for civil protection management Comprehensive space weather observations were obtained from a ground‐based instrumental network associated with SCiESMEX Geomagnetic and ionospheric disturbances were detected, and geomagnetic storm effects dominated in the ionospheric variations