Reassessment of Ionospheric Responses to GRB~221009A: Disentangling Instrumental, Illumination and Geophysical Effects

Abstract

Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) have long been proposed to perturb Earth's ionosphere, with occasional reports of disruptions in ultra- and extremely-low-frequency radio signals. The exceptionally bright GRB~221009A was recently claimed to induce multi-altitude ionospheric responses, including perturbations in satellite electric fields, regional total electron content (TEC), and the equatorial electrojet (EEJ). These claims have renewed interest in the potential near-Earth impacts of astrophysical transients. Here we perform an independent reassessment using expanded datasets spanning multiple altitudes. We find no coherent, burst-like TEC enhancement, show that the reported electric-field anomalies recur under specific illumination conditions each orbit, and demonstrate that the EEJ fluctuations preceded the burst and coincide with solar-wind variability. Together, these results indicate that the reported GRB-induced ionospheric responses are fully attributable to other natural geophysical processes and instrumental artefacts, thereby resolving a high-profile controversy and clarifying the true limits of GRBs'ionospheric effects.