scholarly journals Pre-Seismic Irregularities during the 2020 Samos (Greece) Earthquake (M = 6.9) as Investigated from Multi-Parameter Approach by Ground and Space-Based Techniques

Atmosphere ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (8) ◽  
pp. 1059
Author(s):  
Sudipta Sasmal ◽  
Swati Chowdhury ◽  
Subrata Kundu ◽  
Dimitrios Z. Politis ◽  
Stelios M. Potirakis ◽  
...  

We present a comprehensive analysis of pre-seismic anomalies as computed from the ground and space-based techniques during the recent Samos earthquake in Greece on 30 October 2020, with a magnitude M = 6.9. We proceed with a multi-parametric approach where pre-seismic irregularities are investigated in the stratosphere, ionosphere, and magnetosphere. We use the convenient methods of acoustics and electromagnetic channels of the Lithosphere–Atmosphere–Ionosphere-Coupling (LAIC) mechanism by investigating the Atmospheric Gravity Wave (AGW), magnetic field, electron density, Total Electron Content (TEC), and the energetic particle precipitation in the inner radiation belt. We incorporate two ground-based IGS GPS stations DYNG (Greece) and IZMI (Turkey) for computing the TEC and observed a significant enhancement in daily TEC variation around one week before the earthquake. For the space-based observation, we use multiple parameters as recorded from Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites. For the AGW, we use the SABER/TIMED satellite data and compute the potential energy of stratospheric AGW by using the atmospheric temperature profile. It is found that the maximum potential energy of such AGW is observed around six days before the earthquake. Similar AGW is also observed by the method of wavelet analysis in the fluctuation in TEC values. We observe significant energetic particle precipitation in the inner radiation belt over the earthquake epicenter due to the conventional concept of an ionospheric-magnetospheric coupling mechanism by using an NOAA satellite. We first eliminate the particle count rate (CR) due to possible geomagnetic storms and South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA) by the proper choice of magnetic field B values. After the removal of the statistical background CRs, we observe a significant enhancement of CR four and ten days before the mainshock. We use Swarm satellite outcomes to check the magnetic field and electron density profile over a region of earthquake preparation. We observe a significant enhancement in electron density one day before the earthquake. The parameters studied here show an overall pre-seismic anomaly from a duration of ten days to one day before the earthquake.

2021 ◽  
Vol 39 (5) ◽  
pp. 795-809
Author(s):  
Florine Enengl ◽  
Noora Partamies ◽  
Nickolay Ivchenko ◽  
Lisa Baddeley

Abstract. Energetic particle precipitation (EPP) has the potential to change the neutral atmospheric temperature in the mesopause region. However, recent results are inconsistent, leaving the mechanism and the actual effect still unresolved. In this study we have searched for electron precipitation events and investigated a possible correlation between D-region electron density enhancements and simultaneous neutral temperature changes. The rotational temperature of the excited hydroxyl (OH) molecules is retrieved from the infrared spectrum of the OH airglow. The electron density is monitored by the European Incoherent Scatter Scientific Association (EISCAT) Svalbard Radar. We use all available experiments from the International Polar Year (IPY) in 2007–2008 until February 2019. Particle precipitation events are characterized by rapid increases in electron density by a factor of 4 at an altitude range of 80–95 km, which overlaps with the nominal altitude of the infrared OH airglow layer. The OH airglow measurements and the electron density measurements are co-located. Six of the 10 analysed electron precipitation events are associated with a temperature decrease of 10–20 K. Four events were related to a temperature change of less than 10 K. We interpret the results in terms of the change in the chemical composition in the mesosphere. Due to EPP ionization the population of excited OH at the top of the airglow layer may decrease. As a consequence, the airglow peak height changes and the temperatures are probed at lower altitudes. The observed change in temperature thus depends on the behaviour of the vertical temperature profile within the airglow layer. This is in agreement with conclusions of earlier studies but is, for the first time, constructed from electron precipitation measurements as opposed to proxies. The EPP-related temperature change recovers very fast, typically within less than 60 min. We therefore further conclude that this type of EPP event reaching the mesopause region would only have a significant impact on the longer-term heat balance in the mesosphere if the lifetime of the precipitation was much longer than that of an EPP event (30–60 min) found in this study.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Florine Enengl ◽  
Noora Partamies ◽  
Nickolay Ivchenko ◽  
Lisa Baddeley

Abstract. Energetic Particle Precipitation (EPP) has the potential to change the neutral atmospheric temperature at the mesopause region. Recent results, however, are inconsistent leaving the mechanism and the actual effect still unresolved. Here we have searched for electron precipitation events and investigated a possible correlation between D region electron density enhancements and simultaneous neutral temperature changes. The rotational temperature of the exited hydroxyl (OH) molecules is retrieved from the spectrum of the OH airglow. The electron density is monitored by the EISCAT Svalbard radar from the International Polar Year (IPY) in 2007–2008, when the EISCAT Svalbard radar was run continuously, until February 2019. Particle precipitation events are characterized by rapid increases in electron density by a factor of 4 at an altitude range of 80–95 km, which overlaps with the nominal altitude of the OH airglow layer. The OH airglow measurements and the electron density measurements are co-located. Most of our 8 electron precipitation events are associated with a temperature decrease of 10–50 K. Only one event was related to temperature change less than 10 K. We interpret the results in terms of the change in the chemical composition in the mesosphere. Due to EPP ionisation the population of excited OH at the top of the airglow layer decreases. As a consequence, the airglow peak height changes and the temperatures are probed at lower altitudes, providing inconsistent temperature responses. This is in agreement with conclusions of earlier studies, but is, for the first time, constructed from electron precipitation measurements as opposed proxies. The EPP related temperature change recovers very fast, typically within 30 minutes. We therefore further conclude that this type of particle precipitation events would only have a significant impact on the longer-term heat balance in the mesosphere if the lifetime of the precipitation was much longer than that of a typical EPP event found in this study.


2007 ◽  
Vol 7 (18) ◽  
pp. 4943-4951 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. S. Zerefos ◽  
E. Gerasopoulos ◽  
I. Tsagouri ◽  
B. E. Psiloglou ◽  
A. Belehaki ◽  
...  

Abstract. This study aims at providing experimental evidence, to support the hypothesis according to which the movement of the moon's shadow sweeping the ozone layer at supersonic speed, during a solar eclipse, creates gravity waves in the atmosphere. An experiment was conducted to study eclipse induced thermal fluctuations in the ozone layer (via measurements of total ozone column, ozone photolysis rates and UV irradiance), the ionosphere (Ionosonde Total Electron Content – ITEC, peak electron density height – hmF2), and the troposphere (temperature, relative humidity), before, during and after the total solar eclipse of 29 March 2006. We found the existence of eclipse induced dominant oscillations in the parameters related to the ozone layer and the ionosphere, with periods ranging between 30–40 min. Cross-spectrum analyses resulted to statistically significant square coherences between the observed oscillations, strengthening thermal stratospheric ozone forcing as the main mechanism for GWs. Additional support for a source below the ionosphere was provided by the amplitude of the oscillations in the ionospheric electron density, which increased upwards from 160 to 220 km height. Even though similar oscillations were shown in surface temperature and relative humidity data, no clear evidence for tropospheric influence could be derived from this study, due to the modest amplitude of these waves and the manifold rationale inside the boundary layer.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 1559
Author(s):  
Fabricio S. Prol ◽  
M. Mainul Hoque

A 3D-model approach has been developed to describe the electron density of the topside ionosphere and plasmasphere based on Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) measurements onboard low Earth orbit satellites. Electron density profiles derived from ionospheric Radio Occultation (RO) data are extrapolated to the upper ionosphere and plasmasphere based on a linear Vary-Chap function and Total Electron Content (TEC) measurements. A final update is then obtained by applying tomographic algorithms to the slant TEC measurements. Since the background specification is created with RO data, the proposed approach does not require using any external ionospheric/plasmaspheric model to adapt to the most recent data distributions. We assessed the model accuracy in 2013 and 2018 using independent TEC data, in situ electron density measurements, and ionosondes. A systematic better specification was obtained in comparison to NeQuick, with improvements around 15% in terms of electron density at 800 km, 26% at the top-most region (above 10,000 km) and 26% to 55% in terms of TEC, depending on the solar activity level. Our investigation shows that the developed model follows a known variation of electron density with respect to geographic/geomagnetic latitude, altitude, solar activity level, season, and local time, revealing the approach as a practical and useful tool for describing topside ionosphere and plasmasphere using satellite-based GNSS data.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fuqing Huang ◽  
Jiuhou Lei ◽  
Chao Xiong

<p>Equatorial plasma bubbles (EPBs) are typically ionospheric irregularities that frequently occur at the low latitudes and equatorial regions, which can significantly affect the propagation of radio waves. In this study, we reported a unique strong EPB that happened at middle latitudes over the Asian sector during the quiescent period. The multiple observations including total electron content (TEC) from Beidou geostationary satellites and GPS, ionosondes, in-situ electron density from SWARM and meteor radar are used to explore the characteristic and mechanism of the observed EPB. The unique strong EPB was associated with great nighttime TEC/electron density enhancement at the middle latitudes, which moves toward eastward. The potential physical processes of the observed EPB are also discussed.</p>


2009 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 22459-22504
Author(s):  
A. Robichaud ◽  
R. Ménard ◽  
S. Chabrillat ◽  
J. de Grandpré ◽  
Y. J. Rochon ◽  
...  

Abstract. In 2003, strong geomagnetic events occurred which produced massive amounts of energetic particles penetrating the top of the atmospheric polar region, significantly perturbing its chemical state down to the middle stratosphere. These events and their effects are generally left unaccounted for in current models of stratospheric chemistry and large differences between observations and models are then noted. In this study, we use a coupled 3-D stratospheric dynamical-chemical model and assimilation system to ingest MIPAS temperature and chemical observations. The goal is to gain further understanding and to evaluate the impacts of EPP (energetic particle precipitation) on stratospheric polar chemistry. Moreover, we investigate the feasibility of assimilating valid "outlier" observations associated with such events. We focus our analysis on OmF (Observation minus Forecast) residuals as they filter out phenomena well reproduced by the model (such as gas phase chemistry, transport, diurnal and seasonal cycles) thus revealing a clear trace of the EPP. Inspection of OmF statistics in both the passive (without chemical assimilation) and active (with chemical assimilation) cases altogether provides a powerful diagnostic tool to assess the model and assimilation system. We also show that passive OmF can permit a satisfactory evaluation of the ozone partial column loss due to EPP effects. Results suggest a small but significant loss of 5–6 DU (Dobson Units) during an EPP-IE (EPP indirect effects) event in the Antarctic winter of 2003, and about only 1 DU for the SPE (solar proton event) of October/November 2003. Despite large differences between the model and MIPAS chemical observations (NO2, HNO3, CH4 and O3), we demonstrate that a careful assimilation of these constituents with only gas phase chemistry included in the model (i.e. no provision for EPP impacts) and with relaxed quality control nearly eliminated the short-term bias and significantly reduced the standard deviation error below 1 hPa.


2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 111
Author(s):  
Sri Ekawati

The solar flare is potential to cause sudden increase of the electron density in the ionosphere,particularly in D layer, known as Sudden Ionospheric Disturbances (SID). This increase of electron density occurs not only in the ionospheric D layer but also in the ionospheric E and F layers. Total Electron Content (TEC) measured by GPS is the total number of electrons from D to F layer. The aim of this research is to study the effect of solar flare x-rays, greater than M5 class in 2015, on ionospheric TEC over Bandung and Manado. This paper presents the preliminary result of ionospheric TEC response on solar flare occurrence over Indonesia. The ionospheric TEC data is derived from GPS Ionospheric Scintillation and TEC Monitor (GISTM) receiver at Bandung (-6.90o S;107.6o E geomagnetic latitude 16.54o S) and Manado (1.48o N; 124.85o E geomagnetic latitude 7.7o S). The solar x-rays flares classes analyzed where M5.1 on 10 March 2015 and M7.9 on 25 June 2015. Slant TEC (STEC) values where calculated to obtain Vertical TEC (VTEC) and the Differential of the VTEC (DVTEC) per PRN satellite for further analysis. The results showed that immediately after the flare, there where sudden enhancement of the VTEC and the DVTEC (over Bandung and Manado) at the same time. The time delay of ionospheric TEC response on M5.1 flare was approximately 2 minutes, then the VTEC increased by 0.5 TECU and the DVTEC rose sharply by 0.5 – 0.6 TECU/minutes. Moreover, the time delay after the M7.9 flare was approximately 11 minutes, then the VTEC increased by 1 TECU and the DVTEC rose sharply by 0.6 – 0.9 TECU/minutes. ABSTRAK Flare matahari berpotensi meningkatkan kerapatan elektron ionosfer secara mendadak, khususnya di lapisan D, yang dikenal sebagai Sudden Ionospheric Disturbances (SID). Peningkatan kerapatan elektron tersebut terjadi tidak hanya di lapisan D, tetapi juga di lapisan E dan F ionosfer. Total Electron Content (TEC) dari GPS merupakan jumlah banyaknya elektron total dari lapisan D sampai lapisan F. Penelitian ini bertujuan mengetahui efek flare, yang lebih besar dari kelas M5 tahun 2015, terhadap TEC ionosfer di atas Bandung dan Manado. Makalah ini merupakan hasil awal dari respon TEC ionosfer terhadap fenomena flare di atas Indonesia. Data TEC ionosfer diperoleh dari penerima GPS Ionospheric Scintillation and TEC Monitor (GISTM) di Bandung (-6,90o S; 107,60o E lintang geomagnet 16,54o LS) dan Manado (1,48oLU;124,85oBT lintang geomagnet 7,7o LS) dikaitkan dengan kejadian flare kelas M5.1 pada tanggal 10 Maret 2015 dan kelas M7.9 pada tanggal 25 Juni 2015. Nilai Slant TEC (STEC) dihitung untuk memperoleh nilai Vertical TEC (VTEC), kemudian nilai Differential of VTEC (DVTEC) per PRN satelit diperoleh untuk analisis selanjutnya. Hasil menunjukkan segera setelah terjadi flare, terjadi peningkatan VTEC dan DVTEC (di atas Bandung dan Manado) secara mendadak pada waktu yang sama. Waktu tunda dari respon TEC ionosfer setelah terjadi flare M5.1 adalah sekitar 2 menit, kemudian VTEC meningkat sebesar 0,5 TECU dan DVTEC meningkat secara tajam sebesar 0,5 – 0,6 TECU/menit. Sedangkan, waktu tunda setelah terjadi flare M7.9 adalah 11 menit, kemudian VTEC meningkat sebesar 1 TECU dan DVTEC meningkat secara tajam sebesar 0,6 – 0,9 TECU/menit.


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