Statistical investigations of layer-type and clump-type plasma structures of 3-m field-aligned irregularities in nighttime sporadic E region made with Chung-Li VHF radar

2011 ◽  
Vol 116 (A12) ◽  
pp. n/a-n/a ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Y. Wang ◽  
Y. H. Chu ◽  
C. L. Su ◽  
R.-M. Kuong ◽  
H.-C. Chen ◽  
...  
2005 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 773-779 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. K. Patra ◽  
S. Sripathi ◽  
P. B. Rao ◽  
K. S. V. Subbarao

Abstract. The first results of simultaneous observations made on the low-latitude field-aligned irregularities (FAI) using the MST radar located at Gadanki (13.5° N, 79.2° E, dip 12.5°) and the Es parameters using an ionosonde at a nearby station Sriharikota (13.7° N, 80.1° E, dip 12.6°) are presented. The observations show that while the height of the most intense radar echoes is below the virtual height of Es (h'Es) during daytime, it is found to be either below or above during nighttime. The strength of the FAI is better correlated with the top penetration frequency (ftEs) and the blanketing frequency (fbEs) during the night (r=0.4 in both cases) as compared to the day (r=0.35 and -0.04, respectively). Furthermore, the signal strength of FAI is reasonably correlated with (ftEs-fbEs) during daytime (r=0.59) while very poorly correlated during nighttime (r=0.18). While the radar observations in general appear to have characteristics close to that of mid-latitudes, the relationship of these with the Es parameters are poorer than that of mid-latitudes. The observations reported here, nevertheless, are quite consistent with the expectations based on the gradient drift instability mechanism.


2004 ◽  
Vol 22 (11) ◽  
pp. 3799-3804 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. J. Pan ◽  
P. B. Rao

Abstract. We report on the field-aligned irregularities observed in the low-latitude sporadic E-layer (Es) with the Gadanki (13.5° N, 79.2° E; geomagnetic latitude 6.3° N) VHF radar. The radar was operated intermittently for 15 days during the summer months in 1998 and 1999, for both daytime and nighttime observation. The total observation periods are 161h for the nighttime and 68h for the daytime. The observations were used to study the percentage of occurrence of the E-region echoes for both daytime and nighttime. The statistical characteristics of the mean radial velocity and spectral width are presented for three cases based on the echo occurrence characteristics and the altitude of observations (from 90 to 140km ranges), namely, the lower E-region daytime (90-110km), the lower E-region nighttime (90-105km) and the upper E-region nighttime (105-140km) echoes. The results are compared with that of Piura, a low-latitude station located at about the same geomagnetic latitude, but to the south of the equator. By comparing the behaviors of the lower E-region radar echoes of the summer months between Gadanki and Piura, we find that the lower altitude echoes below about 100km are rarely reported in Piura but commonly seen in Gadanki. Features of the nighttime echoes observed by these two radars are quite similar but daytime FAI echoes are again seldom detected by Piura.


1996 ◽  
Vol 23 (25) ◽  
pp. 3683-3686 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. K. Choudhary ◽  
K. K. Mahajan ◽  
Sachchidanand Singh ◽  
Keshav Kumar ◽  
V. K. Anandan

1998 ◽  
Vol 25 (11) ◽  
pp. 1813-1816 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tadahiko Ogawa ◽  
Norihide Sekito ◽  
Kenrou Nozaki ◽  
Mamoru Yamamoto

2005 ◽  
Vol 23 (7) ◽  
pp. 2377-2384 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Yokoyama ◽  
M. Yamamoto ◽  
S. Fukao ◽  
T. Takahashi ◽  
M. Tanaka

Abstract. Observational campaigns of the mid-latitude ionospheric E-region with sounding rockets and ground-based instruments were conducted in 1996 (SEEK) and 2002 (SEEK-2). Both of them were successfully conducted to bring important findings about the mid-latitude E-region and quasi-periodic (QP) VHF radar echoes. The observational results in the SEEK and the SEEK-2 are compared with numerical simulations and discussed in this paper. While sporadic-E (Es)-layers are actually formed by the observed neutral wind, it is difficult for the constant wind shear to produce the sharp Es-layer gradient. However, once they are formed in the lower E-region, they cannot easily be dissipated by the simple diffusive motion. The polarization electric field, calculated under the condition at the rocket launch time, shows similar amplitude and structure to the measurement around the Es-layer altitude. The structure of the plasma density and the electric field above the Es-layer observed in the SEEK-2 showed a wave-like pattern up to an altitude of 150 km. Considering a mapping of the polarization electric field generated within the Es-layers, gravity waves are the possible source of the wave-like structure of the measured electric fields and sub-peaks of the electron density above the main Es-layers. Fluctuation of the measured magnetic field is reproduced by Hall or field-aligned current driven by the polarization electric field. The current theoretical models for QP echoes and the polarization electric field are basically verified by the discussion in this paper. Keywords. Ionospheric irregularities – Mid-latitude ionosphere – Numerical simulation studies


2009 ◽  
Vol 27 (9) ◽  
pp. 3411-3419 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Sridharan ◽  
A. K. Patra ◽  
N. Venkateswara Rao ◽  
G. Ramkumar

Abstract. Simultaneous observations of atmospheric sodium (Na) made by a resonance lidar and E-region field-aligned-irregularities (FAI) made by the Indian MST radar, both located at Gadanki (13.5° N, 79.2° E) and horizontal winds acquired by a SKiYMET meteor radar at Trivandrum (8.5° N, 77° E) are used to investigate the relationship among sodium layer, FAI and neutral winds in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere region. The altitudes and descent rates of higher altitude (~95 km) Na layer and FAI agree quite well. The descending structures of the higher altitude Na layer and FAI are found to be closely related to the diurnal tidal phase structure in zonal winds observed over Trivandrum. At lower altitudes, the descent rate of FAI is larger than that of Na layer and zonal tidal phase. These observations support the hypothesis that the metallic ion layers are formed by the zonal wind shear associated with tidal winds and subsequently get neutralized to manifest in the form of descending Na layers. The descending FAI echoing layers are manifestation of the instabilities setting in on the ionization layer. In the present observations, the altitudes of occurrence of Na layer and FAI echoes being low, we surmise that it is quite possible that the FAI echoes are due to the descent of already formed irregularities at higher altitudes.


2005 ◽  
Vol 23 (7) ◽  
pp. 2385-2390 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Onoma ◽  
Y. Otsuka ◽  
K. Shiokawa ◽  
T. Ogawa ◽  
M. Yamamoto ◽  
...  

Abstract. We report simultaneous observations of atmospheric gravity waves (AGW) in OI (557.7nm) and OH airglow images and VHF radar backscatter from field-aligned irregularities (FAI) in the E-region during the SEEK-2 (Sporadic-E Experiment over Kyushu 2) campaign period from 29 July to 9 August 2002. An all-sky imager was operated at Nishino-Omote (30.5 N, 130.1 E), Japan. On 14 nights, 17 AGW events were detected in OI and OH airglow images. AGW propagated mostly toward the northeast or southeast. From comparison with the E-region FAI occurrence, which is detected by a nearby VHF radar (31.57MHz), we found that AGW tended to propagate southeastward during FAI events. This result suggests that the interaction between AGW and E-region plasma plays an important role in generating FAI. Furthermore, polarization electric fields generated directly by AGW may contribute to the FAI generation. Keywords. Atmospheric composition and structure (Airglow and aurora), Ionosphere (Ionospheric irregularities, Mid-latitude ionosphere)


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