The ionospheric response to perturbation electric fields during the onset phase of geomagnetic storms

1992 ◽  
Vol 70 (7) ◽  
pp. 575-581 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Jakowski ◽  
A. Jungstand ◽  
K. Schlegel ◽  
H. Kohl ◽  
K. Rinnert

The generation and propagation of ionospheric storms are studied by analyzing EISCAT radar, and vertical-sounding and total-electron-content data obtained under different geophysical conditions. Both, case studies as well as the average storm pattern of percentage deviations of different ionospheric parameters from their corresponding reference values such as total electron content, F2-layer critical frequency foF2, F2-layer height hmF2, and slab thickness τ indicate the action of a perturbation electric field during the first few hours during the onset phase of geomagnetic storms. Considering the onset phase of the storm on July 28–29, 1987 evidence has been found that high-latitude electric fields may penetrate to lower latitudes before the ring current has developed. In most cases this process is accompanied by a positive phase in the upper ionosphere and F2-layer ionization. Different mechanisms are assumed to be responsible for the daytime and nighttime behaviour, respectively. The negative phase propagates equatorward with velocities in the order of 70–350 m s−1 following a strong heating of the thermosphere and ionosphere due to the auroral electrojet.

2017 ◽  
Vol 35 (6) ◽  
pp. 1309-1326 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia Mara de Siqueira Negreti ◽  
Eurico Rodrigues de Paula ◽  
Claudia Maria Nicoli Candido

Abstract. Total electron content (TEC) is extensively used to monitor the ionospheric behavior under geomagnetically quiet and disturbed conditions. This subject is of greatest importance for space weather applications. Under disturbed conditions the two main sources of electric fields, which are responsible for changes in the plasma drifts and for current perturbations, are the short-lived prompt penetration electric fields (PPEFs) and the longer-lasting ionospheric disturbance dynamo (DD) electric fields. Both mechanisms modulate the TEC around the globe and the equatorial ionization anomaly (EIA) at low latitudes. In this work we computed vertical absolute TEC over the low latitude of South America. The analysis was performed considering HILDCAA (high-intensity, long-duration, continuous auroral electrojet (AE) activity) events and geomagnetic storms. The characteristics of storm-time TEC and HILDCAA-associated TEC will be presented and discussed. For both case studies presented in this work (March and August 2013) the HILDCAA event follows a geomagnetic storm, and then a global scenario of geomagnetic disturbances will be discussed. Solar wind parameters, geomagnetic indices, O ∕ N2 ratios retrieved by GUVI instrument onboard the TIMED satellite and TEC observations will be analyzed and discussed. Data from the RBMC/IBGE (Brazil) and IGS GNSS networks were used to calculate TEC over South America. We show that a HILDCAA event may generate larger TEC differences compared to the TEC observed during the main phase of the precedent geomagnetic storm; thus, a HILDCAA event may be more effective for ionospheric response in comparison to moderate geomagnetic storms, considering the seasonal conditions. During the August HILDCAA event, TEC enhancements from  ∼  25 to 80 % (compared to quiet time) were observed. These enhancements are much higher than the quiet-time variability observed in the ionosphere. We show that ionosphere is quite sensitive to solar wind forcing and considering the events studied here, this was the most important source of ionospheric responses. Furthermore, the most important source of TEC changes were the long-lasting PPEFs observed on August 2013, during the HILDCAA event. The importance of this study relies on the peculiarity of the region analyzed characterized by high declination angle and ionospheric gradients which are responsible for creating a complex response during disturbed periods.


2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 ◽  
pp. 1-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olga Maltseva ◽  
Natalia Mozhaeva

Measurements of delays of the signals radiated by transmitters of navigational satellites allow us to obtain the total electron content (TEC). In addition, measurements of TEC allow solving problems such as development of local, regional, and global models of TEC and correction of ionospheric delay for increasing accuracy of positioning. Now, it is possible to set the task of calculation of critical frequency foF2 with the use of experimental values of TEC in a global scale. For this purpose it is necessary to know an equivalent slab thickness of the ionosphere τ which is a coefficient of proportionality between TEC and a maximum density of the ionosphere. The present paper is devoted to the analysis of investigation and utilization of this parameter. It is shown that (1) existing models of τ are not empirical and not always can provide an adequate accuracy of foF2 calculation, (2) experimental median τ(med) provides much larger accuracy of foF2 calculation than the empirical model and variations from day to day and allows filling gaps in the ionosonde data, and (3) it is possible to use a hyperbolic approximation and coefficient K(τ) for development of a global model of τ.


2022 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 369
Author(s):  
Na Yang ◽  
Tao Yu ◽  
Huijun Le ◽  
Libo Liu ◽  
Yang-Yi Sun ◽  
...  

This study aims to investigate the features of the ionospheric mid-latitude trough over North America by using the MIT total electron content data obtained during three geomagnetic storms that occurred in August 2018, September 2017, and March 2015. The mid-latitude trough position sharply moves equatorward from the quiet-time subauroral latitude to mid-latitude with the decrease in SYM-H during geomagnetic storms. We find that the ionospheric behavior of TEC around the mid-latitude trough position displays three kinds of ionospheric storm effect: negative ionospheric storm effect, unchanged ionospheric behavior, and positive ionospheric storm effect. These ionospheric storm effects around the mid-latitude trough position are not always produced by the mid-latitude trough. The ionospheric storm effects produced by the mid-latitude trough are limited in the narrow mid-latitude trough regions, and are transmitted to other regions with the movement of the mid-latitude trough.


Author(s):  
Weiping Jiang ◽  
Yifang Ma ◽  
Xiaohui Zhou ◽  
Zhao Li ◽  
Xiangdong An ◽  
...  

This paper studies ionospheric vertical total electron content (VTEC) variations before the 2014 Mw8.2 Chile earthquake. VTEC derived from 14 GPS (Global Positioning System) stations and GIM (Global Ionospheric Map) were used to analyze ionospheric variations before the earthquake using the sliding interquartile range method, and results showed that significant positive VTEC anomalies occurred on 28 March. To explore possible causes of these anomalies, effects of solar and geomagnetic activities were examined, and VTEC variations during 17 March to 31 March in 2009-2013 were cross-compared. Also, VTEC for a full year before the earthquake was investigated. Results indicated that these anomalies were weakly associated with high solar activities and geomagnetic storms and that these anomalies were not normal seasonal and diurnal variations. An analysis of the spatial distribution of the observed anomalies was also presented, and it demonstrated that anomalies specifically appeared around the epicenter on 28 March. It suggests that observed anomalies may be associated with the subsequent Chile earthquake. Equatorial anomaly variations were analyzed to discuss the possible physical mechanism, and results showed that the equatorial anomaly unusually increased on 28 March, which indicates that anomalous electric fields generated in the earthquake preparation area and the meridional wind are possible causes of the observed ionospheric anomalies.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (20) ◽  
pp. 3406
Author(s):  
Oluwaseyi Jimoh ◽  
Jiuhou Lei ◽  
Fuqing Huang

This study focused on the investigation of daytime positive ionospheric disturbances and the recurrence of total electron content (TEC) enhancements. TEC data derived from the Beidou geostationary satellite over the Asian-Australian sector were used to study the occurrence of TEC enhancements during 2016–2018. The occurrence of TEC enhancements under quiet geomagnetic condition was analyzed. Furthermore, the occurrence of TEC enhancements during different geomagnetic storm phases was considered to address the question that relates to the recurrence of TEC enhancements during the recovery phase of geomagnetic storms. The seasonal variation of TEC enhancements displayed equinoctial and solstitial peaks at the middle and low latitudes respectively. Besides, there was no evident systematic latitudinal dependence in the occurrence of TEC enhancements, albeit at the equatorial station, nearly no TEC enhancement was observed under Kp < 3. Meanwhile, the occurrences during the main phases of the geomagnetic storms were significantly above the TEC enhancement baselines except at HKWS. The prominence of TEC enhancements during the main phase in comparison with the initial and recovery phases could be attributed to the effects of prompt penetration electric fields and equator-ward neutral winds. Moreover, the pattern of TEC enhancements during the storm recovery indicates the effects of chemical composition changes, winds, and the possible modulation from the lower atmospheric forcing.


2017 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 345-351 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ayman Mahrous

Abstract. This paper presents observational evidence of frequent ionospheric perturbations caused by the magnetar flare of the source SGR J1550–5418, which took place on 22 January 2009. These ionospheric perturbations are observed in the relative change of the total electron content (ΔTEC/Δt) measurements from the coherent ionospheric Doppler radar (CIDR). The CIDR system makes high-precision measurements of the total electron content (TEC) change along ray-paths from ground receivers to low Earth-orbiting (LEO) beacon spacecraft. These measurements can be integrated along the orbital track of the beacon satellite to construct the relative spatial, not temporal, TEC profiles that are useful for determining the large-scale plasma distribution. The observed spatial TEC changes reveal many interesting features of the magnetar signatures in the ionosphere. The onset phase of the magnetar flare was during the CIDR's nighttime satellite passage. The nighttime small-scale perturbations detected by CIDR, with ΔTEC/Δt  ≥  0.05 TECU s−1, over the eastern Mediterranean on 22 January 2009 were synchronized with the onset phase of the magnetar flare and consistent with the emission of hundreds of bursts detected from the source. The maximum daytime large-scale perturbation measured by CIDR over northern Africa and the eastern Mediterranean was detected after ∼ 6 h from the main phase of the magnetar flare, with ΔTEC/Δt  ≤  0.10 TECU s−1. These ionospheric perturbations resembled an unusual poleward traveling ionospheric disturbance (TID) caused by the extraterrestrial source. The TID's estimated virtual velocity is 385.8 m s−1, with ΔTEC/Δt  ≤  0.10 TECU s−1.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
pp. 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudio Cesaroni ◽  
Luca Spogli ◽  
Angela Aragon-Angel ◽  
Michele Fiocca ◽  
Varuliator Dear ◽  
...  

We introduce a novel empirical model to forecast, 24 h in advance, the Total Electron Content (TEC) at global scale. The technique leverages on the Global Ionospheric Map (GIM), provided by the International GNSS Service (IGS), and applies a nonlinear autoregressive neural network with external input (NARX) to selected GIM grid points for the 24 h single-point TEC forecasting, taking into account the actual and forecasted geomagnetic conditions. To extend the forecasting at a global scale, the technique makes use of the NeQuick2 Model fed by an effective sunspot number R12 (R12eff), estimated by minimizing the root mean square error (RMSE) between NARX output and NeQuick2 applied at the same GIM grid points. The novel approach is able to reproduce the features of the ionosphere especially during disturbed periods. The performance of the forecasting approach is extensively tested under different geospatial conditions, against both TEC maps products by UPC (Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya) and independent TEC data from Jason-3 spacecraft. The testing results are very satisfactory in terms of RMSE, as it has been found to range between 3 and 5 TECu. RMSE depend on the latitude sectors, time of the day, geomagnetic conditions, and provide a statistical estimation of the accuracy of the 24-h forecasting technique even over the oceans. The validation of the forecasting during five geomagnetic storms reveals that the model performance is not deteriorated during disturbed periods. This 24-h empirical approach is currently implemented on the Ionosphere Prediction Service (IPS), a prototype platform to support different classes of GNSS users.


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