Search for Tropospheric Responses to Chromospheric Flares

Abstract

Surface atmospheric pressures are studied for periods before and after chromospheric flares by the superposed epoch method for 31 meteorological stations in North America. The individual analyses show no statistically significant pressure departures following the flares. No evidence is found for claims that continental and coastal stations exhibit different responses to the flares. No evidence is found for claims that atmospheric pressure responses to flares are amplified with increasing latitude. The composite curve for North American stations shows no statistically significant departures and does not verify the composite curve of previous investigators. Chromospheric flares with polar cap absorption (PCA) events and chromospheric flares without PCA events are indistinguishable in the response of surface atmospheric pressure in the polar cap, failing to support the claims of previous investigators. All the departures observed in this study of North American data can be explained by the ordinary transient meteorological variations of the pressure field.