We have performed simulations using the Naval Research Laboratory's physics‐based model of the ionosphere, Sami3 is A Model of the Ionosphere (SAMI3), to illustrate how neutral wind dynamics is responsible for day‐to‐day variability of the ionosphere. We have used neutral winds specified from the extended version of the specified dynamics Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model (SD‐WACCM‐X), in which meteorology below 92 km is constrained by atmospheric specifications from an operational weather forecast model and reanalysis. To assess the realism of the simulations against observations, we have carried out a case study during January–February 2009, a dynamically disturbed time characterized by a sudden stratospheric warming (SSW) commencing 24 January 2009. Model results are compared with total electron content (TEC) from Jet Propulsion Laboratory global ionospheric maps....

To investigate ionosphere variability during the 2009 sudden stratosphere warming (SSW), we present simulation results that combine the Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model Extended version and the thermosphere-ionosphere-mesosphere electrodynamics general circulation model (TIME-GCM). The simulations reveal notable enhancements in both the migrating semidiurnal solar (SW2) and lunar (M2) tides during the SSW. The SW2 and M2 amplitudes reach ∼50 m s−1 and ∼40 m s−1, respectively, in zonal wind at E region altitudes. The dramatic increase in the M2 at these altitudes influences the dynamo generation of electric fields, and the importance of the M2 on the ionosphere variability during the 2009 SSW is demonstrated by comparing simulations with and without the M2. TIME-GCM simulations that incorporate the M2 are found to be in good agreement with Jicamarca Incoherent Scatter Rada...