scholarly journals The influence of non-isothermal electrons and neutral wind structures on the doppler properties of vertical m-size field-aligned irregularities in the low latitude E-region

2007 ◽  
Vol 25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean-Pierre St.-Maurice ◽  
Raj Kumar Choudhary
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.


2008 ◽  
Vol 26 (7) ◽  
pp. 1865-1876 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. V. Phanikumar ◽  
A. K. Patra ◽  
C. V. Devasia ◽  
G. Yellaiah

Abstract. In this paper, we present seasonal variation of E region field-aligned irregularities (FAIs) observed using the Gadanki radar and compare them with the seasonal variation of Es observed from a nearby location SHAR. During daytime, FAIs occur maximum in summer and throughout the day, as compared to other seasons. During nighttime, FAIs occur equally in both summer and winter, and relatively less in equinoxes. Seasonal variations of Es (i.e. ftEs and fbEs) show that the daytime activity is maximum in summer and the nighttime activity is maximum in equinoxes. No relation is found between FAIs occurrence/SNR and ftEs/fbEs. FAIs occurrence, however, is found to be related well with (ftEs−fbEs). This aspect is discussed in the light of the present understanding of the mid-latitude Es-FAIs relationship. The seasonal variations of FAIs observed at Gadanki are compared in detail with those of Piura, which show a significant difference in the daytime observations. The observed difference has been discussed considering the factors governing the generation of FAIs.


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.


2022 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 392
Author(s):  
Lei Qiao ◽  
Gang Chen ◽  
Wanlin Gong ◽  
Xuesi Cai ◽  
Erxiao Liu ◽  
...  

The Wuhan Ionospheric Oblique Backscatter Sounding System (WIOBSS) was applied as a bistatic radar to record the ionospheric E-region responses to a solar eclipse on 22 July 2009. The transmitter was located in Wuhan and the receiver was located in Huaian. The receiver observed anomalous echoes with larger Doppler shifts at the farther ranges compared with the echoes reflected by Es. According to the simulated ray propagation paths of the reflected and scattered waves, we considered that the anomalous echoes were scattered by E-region field-aligned irregularities (FAIs). The locations of the FAIs recorded by the WIOBSS were estimated with the International Geomagnetic Reference Field (IGRF) and the observed propagation parameters. These irregularities occurred at around the eclipse maximum and lasted for ~20–40 min. The steep plasma density gradient induced by the fast drop photo ionization under the lunar shadow was beneficial to the occurrence of gradient drift instability to generate the FAIs. They were different from the gravity wave-induced irregularities occurring in the recovery phase of the solar eclipse.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Astrid Maute ◽  
Brian Harding ◽  
Joanne Wu ◽  
Colin Triplett ◽  
Rodrick Heelis ◽  
...  

<p>The neutral wind dynamo plays an important role in generating low-latitude ionospheric variability and space weather. The characteristic equatorial ionization anomaly is generated by the daytime equatorial upward drift, which has imprinted on it the variation from upward propagating tides and waves. Observations and modeling studies have indicated large variability of the plasma drift on time scales from days to seasons associated with the wind dynamo at low and middle latitudes. The relationship of the ionospheric drift variability to the neutral wind variations is still not fully understood. The Ionospheric Connection explorer (ICON) mission is designed to focus on the low to middle latitude region and measures key parameters, such as the plasma drift and density and neutral temperatures and winds, to address the question of vertical coupling.</p><p>In this presentation, we will focus on the ICON observations and compare to Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model-Extended (WACCM-X) simulations to examine the daytime low latitude ion drift and neutral wind variations. We investigate the day-to-day and longitudinal variation between concurrent ion drift and neutral wind variations over short time periods to quantify the contribution of the neutral wind in generating the ionospheric drift variations. Employing WACCM-X simulations, we investigate the importance of contributing factors, such as ionospheric conductivities, the geomagnetic main field, magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling, and the neutral wind, in generating the observed ionospheric drift variations. While we focus in this study on field line integrated ionospheric current density due to electric field/drift and neutral wind, we conclude by discussing our results in a more general context.</p>


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document