克州电离层测高仪建设及初步结果

电离层测高仪是地面探测电离层的主要常规手段.2010年8月中国气象局在新疆的克孜勒苏柯尔克孜自治州(简称克州)(北纬39.72°,东经76.18°)完成了中国最西端电离层垂直探测站的建设.本文介绍了克州电离层测高仪的主要性能参数、一种新的CADI测高仪天线方案设计及天线系统测试结果;初步比较了克州电离层测高仪站和同样安装了CADI测高仪的加拿大Baker站(北纬52.16°,西经106.53°)2010年10月1日的电离图,这两个站的电离图质量基本一致;2011年2月24日发生了一次太阳耀斑事件,克州电离层测高仪记录了这次耀斑期间电离层的变化和响应,证明了测高仪监测对于短波通信有重要应用价值;比较了2010年8月至10月克州电离层测高仪观测月中值、Rome电离层测高仪(北纬41.9°,东经12.5°)观测月中值和IRI2007的模式值并发现:1)2010年8～10月,克州foF2观测月中值和同纬度Rome的foF2观测月中值在分布形态上比较一致;2)克州foF2观测月中值和模式月中值在8月比较吻合,在10月存在一定差异;9月10:00～13:00、10月4:00～14:00IRI2007模式月中值高于观测月中值,且偏离较大(大于8%);3)克州foF2观测月中值在8月、9月的分布中存在Biteout现象.     

太阳活动中低年厦门电离层扩展F发生率研究

本文利用2008年至2013年厦门电离层垂测仪的观测数据,分析了太阳活动中低年厦门电离层扩展F发生率的日变化、季节变化特征和太阳活动对厦门电离层扩展F发生率的影响,结果显示:(1)厦门电离层扩展F主要出现在地方时18时至次日8时的时间段内,扩展F发生率最大值出现在午夜后;(2)厦门电离层扩展F主要出现在5—8月的夏季月份,扩展F发生率最大值一般出现在6月份(2009年出现在5月份);(3)厦门电离层扩展F发生率的日变化、季节变化中存在明显的逐年变化;(4)厦门电离层扩展F年出现次数与太阳10.7 cm射电流量年平均值在2008年到2011年正向相关,而在2012年、2013年却负向相关;在每一年中(除了2012年外),厦门电离层扩展F月发生率与太阳10.7 cm射电流量月平均值负向相关.太阳活动和厦门电离层扩展F发生率之间的复杂关系表明,太阳活动可能通过赤道电离层扩展F和中纬电离层扩展F两种机制影响了厦门电离层扩展F发生.     

中国区域电离层扩展F发生率特征研究

本文利用2011年富克、厦门、南宁、克州、格尔木、西安、北京和漠河等电离层垂测站的电离层扩展F数据,统计了中国区域电离层扩展F发生率的日变化、季节变化和区域变化特征.除了漠河外,中国区域电离层扩展F发生率的日变化、季节变化特征比较一致,扩展F出现在夜间(18~08 LT),且午夜后多于午夜前,以6月为中心的夏季月份扩展F发生率高.电离层扩展F发生率的最大值随着纬度的增加而减少,发生率最大值出现的时间也随着纬度增加而延迟,具有明显的“纬度效应”.漠河电离层扩展F与中国区域中其他地方相比较,在发生时间段、发生率数值和季节变化特征方面都具有明显的不同特征,这些情况表明漠河电离层扩展F的产生机制和影响因素可能是不同的.     

基于COSMIC资料分析电离层F层不规则体结构

根据电离层不规则体的产生会导致周围电子浓度发生起伏变化的原理,利用2007年COSMIC掩星系统的TEC数据,通过平滑滤波得到TEC的扰动值ΔTEC的变化,利用其研究F层不规则体的时空变化特征.统计结果表明:扰动较大的掩星事件主要发生在磁纬±20°之间和高纬地区,春季和秋季带状分布较为明显,不同经度地区较强扰动的掩星事件的分布也有不同特征;较强ΔTEC的掩星事件主要发生在地方时午夜前和午夜后两个时段,发生的高度主要在250~400km范围内.这些结果与已知的F层不规则体的时空分布特征较为一致,说明利用TEC的扰动量来分析电离层F层不规则体结构是可行的.     

高纬电离层气候学特征研究--EISCAT雷达观测及与IRI模式的比较

利用1988～1999年欧洲非相干散射EISCAT（European Incoherent Scatter）雷达观测数据,对不同太阳活动周相、不同季节的极光椭圆区电离层F区电子密度进行统计分析,研究其气候学特征,并与IRI 2001模式比较.EISCAT观测到的电子密度显示出显著的太阳活动高年“冬季异常”和太阳活动低年半年变化等现象.EISCAT实测电子密度随时间和高度的平均二维分布和500 km高度以下总电子含量TEC,从总体来看与IRI 2001模式预测结果符合较好.但高年在TEC达到最大值前后,IRI 2001模式预测的电子密度高度剖面与EISCAT观测结果有显著差别：F2峰以上IRI 2001模式预测的电子密度过大,造成TEC明显高于雷达观测值.另外,在太阳活动下降相,EISCAT观测显示出明显的半年周期季节变化特征,但IRI 2001模式未能预测出此下降相季节变化.     

基于修正K_p指数的中纬区单站电离层暴预报方法研究

对电离层暴进行有效预报具有很重要的实际应用价值,但目前这一工作还存在着许多方面有待改进.本文假设电离层扰动的季节性规律占主导地位,借鉴Kutiev and Muhtarov构建修正K_p指数表示地磁活动的方法,建立了一个适用于中纬地区Yakutsk单台站电离层暴预报的线性经验模型.检验表明,该模型对Yakutsk站夏季和春秋季电离层扰动的预测效果明显优于IRI中的STORM模型,模型改善度平均可达35%左右;能很好地反映磁暴连续发生的情况下δfoF₂分阶段下降的形态;能反映出一定的电离层正相扰动及其持续时间,但是正扰动的预报精度有待进一步提高.     

磁赤道地区2007—2013年COSMIC掩星反演和国际参考电离层模型输出结果分析

利用2007—2013年电离层测高仪位于磁赤道观测站Jicamarca (11.95°S,76.8°W,地磁纬度为1°N)的垂测数据和COSMIC掩星反演电离层资料,分析了不同太阳活动条件下两种探测技术获取电离层特征参数峰值密度N_mF₂和峰值高度H_mF₂的相关性,同时也探讨了国际参考电离层模型IRI输出参数与测高仪垂测数据的相关性.此外,进一步分析了COSMIC掩星和IRI模型在不同地方时高估或低估垂测参数的分布特征.结果表明:(1)由COSMIC掩星反演和IRI模型输出参数N_mF₂与测高仪垂测值N_mF₂得到的相关系数都在0.8以上.太阳活动低年COSMIC探测得到的N_mF₂相关性高于太阳活动高年得到的结果,但IRI模型在太阳高年得到的N_mF₂相关性好于太阳活动低年的计算结果.(2) 由COSMIC掩星反演和IRI模型输出的H_mF₂与测高仪垂测值H_mF₂在春秋季得到的相关性较高,夏季的相关性最弱.由COSMIC掩星探测H_mF₂得到的季节和时间相关系数大都集中在0.8和0.6以上,但由IRI模型得到的H_mF₂相关性降低,特别是太阳活动低年的夏季和傍晚其相关系数低于0.3.(3)太阳低年COSMIC掩星和IRI模型白天时段大都高估、夜间至凌晨前后低估电离层参数N_mF₂和H_mF₂;但太阳活动高年N_mF₂在地方时午夜后则呈现高估的特点.相关结果为未来IRI模型的进一步完善以及低纬地区电离层同化模式研究提供参考.     

中低纬电离层F层峰高和厚度的变化特征分析

电离层F层参数对电离层空间天气研究与电波传播应用具有重要意义,以往工作主要针对电离层f_0F_2、TEC等参数.本文利用我国中纬地区的兰州、中低纬过渡区的昆明、低纬地区的海口三个观测站的电离层垂直探测数据,分析了电离层峰高h_mF_2、F层虚高h’F和定性表征的厚度h_mF_2—h’F的周日、季节、太阳活动变化特征.研究表明:(1)兰州h_mF_2在太阳活动高年和低年的数值接近,海口在太阳活动高年白天的h_mF_2比低年白天高20~30 km.(2)在海口和昆明,h_mF_2最大值多出现在中午时段,兰州站的最大值出现在夜间.(3)海口的h_mF_2在01-3LT期间出现很强的"午夜衰落"现象,此后迅速增大.(4)利用h_mF_2-h'F来表征电离层的厚度时,其季节和周日变化特征与常用的B_0存在相似之处,但未出现清晨与午后凹陷等现象.这些结果对于提高我国电离层变化特性的认识和模式化研究水平具有重要的科学意义.     

地震前兆：电离层F2层异常

本文简述了目前提出的地震引起电离层异常扰动的物理机理，重点介绍了近几年国内外对震前F2层异常扰动的研究进展.大量的研究结果显示地震活动引起的电离层扰动不仅确实存在，而且在震级大于5级的地震发生前的几天到几个小时会发生电离层扰动.由于地震引起的电离层F2层变化具有独一无二的特性，这就意味着我们可以利用强震前的F2层异常变化作为地震短临预报的工具.     

中国地区电离层foF2重构方法及其在短期预报中的应用

提出了一种适合于中国地区电离层f_oF₂的重构方法——以中国参考电离层为背景的改进克里格法.该方法把f_oF₂的估计值与中国参考电离层模型值之差值的相对值作为区域化变量,引入电离层距离,采用克里格法实现区域电离层重构.与直接利用f_oF₂进行克里格重构相比,以中国参考电离层为背景场保持了电离层的区域特征,提高了重构的准确性和稳定性.利用我国电离层垂测台站网的数据对该方法应用于中国地区的重构精度进行了评估.该方法与单站预报的自相关分析法相结合可实现中国地区电离层f_oF₂短期预报.     

Seasonal changes in the amplitude and phase of diurnal and semidiurnal variations in parameters of the midlatitude F2 layer under minimum solar activity conditions according to the data of an ionospheric station in Irkutsk (52.5°N, 104.0°E)

We performed a statistical and spectral analysis of variations in two main parameters of the ionospheric F2 layer: critical frequency (f ₀F2) and peak height (h _m F2), recorded at an ionospheric station in Irkutsk (52.5°N, 104.0°E) in the period from December 1, 2006, to January 31, 2008, under low solar activity conditions. It was found that the f ₀F2 and h _m F2 variations contained quasi-harmonic oscillations with periods T _n = 24/n h (n = 1−7). We studied the seasonal changes in the mean and median values of monthly f ₀F2 and h _m F2 time series, their spectra, as well as the amplitudes and phases of the diurnal (n = 1) and semidiurnal (n = 2) variations. It is shown that the amplitude of the diurnal f ₀F2 variations was maximal in October–March 2007 and minimal in May–August 2007. The diurnal f ₀F2 variations were maximal at noon in the winter months and at 1600 LT in the summer months. The semidiurnal f ₀F2 variations had two maxima: a primary maximum in December and January and a secondary maximum in May–July. The maxima of semidiurnal f ₀F2 variations were shifted from 0000 and 1200 LT in winter to 0900 and 2100 LT in summer.     

Morphological analysis of the winter nighttime ionosphere at mid-latitudes of the Asian region

We present a study of peculiarities of the winter nighttime maximum in the critical frequencies f ₀ F2 at mid-latitudes of the Asian region. The data of stations located at different longitudes and close latitudes have been used in the analysis: Novosibirsk (54.8°N, 83.2°E), Irkutsk (52.5°N, 104.0°E), and Khabarovsk (48.5°N, 135.1°E). It has been found that the nighttime maximum in f ₀ F2 is observed after midnight (∼0200–0400 LT) and is a stable feature of the quiet ionosphere from the middle of October to the middle of March at low solar activity (SA) at all analyzed stations. This interval decreases with increasing SA. The difference between the maximal and minimal f ₀ F2 values in nighttime hours is the largest in December–January, and its amplitude is almost independent of SA. Variations in the critical frequency of the h _m F2 layer are inversely related to those in the height of the maximum. We have studied periods when the difference between the daytime and nighttime values of f ₀ F2 is less than 2 MHz. The intervals of observations of such events at different longitudes do not coincide. No dependence of the winter nighttime maximum amplitude on magnetic activity has been found.     

Ionospheric and geomagnetic responses to changes in IMF B z : a superposed epoch study

Superposed epoch studies have been carried out in order to determine the ionospheric response at mid-latitudes to southward turnings of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF). This is compared with the geomagnetic response, as seen in the indices K_p, AE and Dst. The solar wind, IMF and geomagnetic data used were hourly averages from the years 1967–1989 and thus cover a full 22-year cycle in the solar magnetic field. These data were divided into subsets, determined by the magnitudes of the southward turnings and the concomitant increase in solar wind pressure. The superposed epoch studies were carried out using the time of the southward turning as time zero. The response of the mid-latitude ionosphere is studied by looking at the F-layer critical frequencies, f_oF2, from hourly soundings by the Slough ionosonde and their deviation from the monthly median values, f_oF2. For the southward turnings with a change in B_z of B_z > 11.5 nT accompanied by a solar wind dynamic pressure P exceeding 5 nPa, the F region critical frequency, f_oF2, shows a marked decrease, reaching a minimum value about 20 h after the southward turning. This recovers to pre-event values over the subsequent 24 h, on average. The Dst index shows the classic storm-time decrease to about –60 nT. Four days later, the index has still to fully recover and is at about –25 nT. Both the K_p and AE indices show rises before the southward turnings, when the IMF is strongly northward but the solar wind dynamic pressure is enhanced. The average AE index does register a clear isolated pulse (averaging 650 nT for 2 h, compared with a background peak level of near 450 nT at these times) showing enhanced energy deposition at high latitudes in substorms but, like K_p, remains somewhat enhanced for several days, even after the average IMF has returned to zero after 1 day. This AE background decays away over several days as the Dst index recovers, indicating that there is some contamination of the currents observed at the AE stations by the continuing enhanced equatorial ring current. For data averaged over all seasons, the critical frequencies are depressed at Slough by 1.3 MHz, which is close to the lower decile of the overall distribution of f_oFl values. Taking 30-day periods around summer and winter solstice, the largest depression is 1.6 and 1.2 MHz, respectively. This seasonal dependence is confirmed by a similar study for a Southern Hemisphere station, Argentine Island, giving peak depressions of 1.8 MHz and 0.5 MHz for summer and winter. For the subset of turnings where B_z > 11.5 nT and P 5 nPa, the response of the geomagnetic indices is similar but smaller, while the change in f_oF2 has all but disappeared. This confirms that the energy deposited at high latitudes, which leads to the geomagnetic and ionospheric disturbances following a southward turning of the IMF, increases with the energy density (dynamic pressure) of the solar wind flow. The magnitude of all responses are shown to depend on B_z. At Slough, the peak depression always occurs when Slough rotates into the noon sector. The largest ionospheric response is for southward turnings seen between 15–21 UT.     

On the 18-day quasi-periodic oscillation in the ionosphere

The presence and persistence of an 18-day quasi-periodic oscillation in the ionospheric electron density variations were studied. The data of lower ionosphere (radio-wave absorption at equivalent frequency near 1 MHz), middle and upper ionosphere (critical frequencies f₀E and f₀F2) for the period 1970–1990 have been used in the analysis. Also, solar and geomagnetic activity data (the sunspot numbers Rz and solar radio flux F10.7 cm, and a_N index respectively) were used to compare the time variations of the ionospheric with the solar and geomagnetic activity data. Periodogram, complex demodulation, auto- and cross-correlation analysis have been used. It was found that 18-day quasi-periodic oscillation exists and persists in the temporal variations of the ionospheric parameters under study with high level of correlation and mean period of 18–19 days. The time variation of the amplitude of the 18-day quasi-periodic oscillation in the ionosphere seems to be modulated by the long-term solar cycle variations. Such oscillations exist in some solar and geomagnetic parameters and in the planetary wave activity of the middle atmosphere. The high similarities in the amplitude modulation, long-term amplitude variation, period range between the oscillation of investigated parameters and the global activity of oscillation suggests a possible solar influence on the 18-day quasi-periodic oscillation in the ionosphere.     

Geomagnetic control of the foF2 long-term trends

Further development of the method proposed by Danilov and Mikhailov is presented. The method is applied to reveal the foF2 long-term trends on 30 Northern Hemisphere ionosonde stations. Most of them show significant foF2 trends. A pronounced dependence of trend magnitude on geomagnetic (invariant) latitude is confirmed. Periods of negative/positive foF2 trends corresponding to the periods of long-term increasing/decreasing geomagnetic activity are revealed for the first time. Pronounced diurnal variations of the foF2 trend magnitude are found. Strong positive foF2 trends in the post-midnight-early-morning LT sector and strong negative trends during daytime hours are found on the sub-auroral stations for the period with increasing geomagnetic activity. On the contrary middle and lower latitude stations demonstrate negative trends in the early-morning LT sector and small negative or positive trends during daytime hours for the same period. All the morphological features revealed of the foF2 trends may be explained in the framework of contemporary F2-region storm mechanisms. This newly proposed F2-layer geomagnetic storm concept casts serious doubts on the hypothesis relating the F2-layer parameter long-term trends to the thermosphere cooling due to the greenhouse effect.     

Spectral energy contributions of quasi-periodic oscillations (2–35 days) to the variability of the f oF2

The relative contributions of quasi-periodic oscillations from 2 to 35 days to the variability of f_oF2 at middle northern latitudes between 42°N and 60°N are investigated. The f_oF2 hourly data for the whole solar cycle 21 (1976–1986) for four European ionospheric stations Rome (41.9°N, 12.5°E), Poitiers (46.5°N, 0.3°E), Kaliningrad (54.7°N, 20.6°E) and Uppsala (59.8°N, 17.6°E) are used for analysis. The relative contributions of different periodic bands due to planetary wave activity and solar flux variations are evaluated by integrated percent contributions of spectral energy for these bands. The observations suggest that a clearly expressed seasonal variation of percent contributions exists with maximum at summer solstice and minimum at winter solstice for all periodic bands. The contributions for summer increase when the latitude increases. The contributions are modulated by the solar cycle and simultaneously influenced by the long-term geomagnetic activity variations. The greater percentage of spectral energy between 2 to 35 days is contributed by the periodic bands related to the middle atmosphere planetary wave activity.     

Daily variations of the characteristics of beating-typePc3 (Bpc3) pulsations

Summary The spectra of nearly 100 samples of Bpc3 pulsations were computed in the X and Y components of data from the Budkov Observatory. These spectra were used to study the daily variations of the fundamental characteristics of the pulsations, the frequency f ₀ and amplitude A ₀ of the main spectral peaks. The daily variation of the ellipticity of the polarization ellipses of oscillations in frequency f ₀ was also studied in the XY-plane.Part of these results was reported at the XVth General Assembly of the IUGG, Moscow, August 1971.     

The effects of nitric oxide cooling and the photodissociation of molecular oxygen on the thermosphere/ionosphere system over the Argentine Islands

In the past the global, fully coupled, time-dependent mathematical model of the Earths thermo-sphere/ionosphere/plasmasphere (CTIP) has been unable to reproduce accurately observed values of the maximum plasma frequency, foF2, at extreme geophysical locations such as the Argentine Islands during the summer solstice where the ionosphere remains in sunlight throughout the day. This is probably because the seasonal dependence of thermospheric cooling by 5.3 m nitric oxide has been neglected and the photodissociation of O₂ and heating rate calculations have been over-simplified. Now we have included an up-to-date calculation of the solar EUV and UV thermospheric heating rate, coupled with a new calculation of a diurnally varying O₂ photodissociation rate, in the model. Seasonally dependent 5.3 m nitric oxide cooling is also included. With these important improvements, it is found that model values of foF2 are in substantially better agreement with observation. The height of the F2-peak is reduced throughout the day, but remains within acceptable limits of values derived from observation, except at around 0600 h LT. We also carry out two studies of the sensitivity of the upper atmosphere to changes in the magnitude of nitric oxide cooling and photodissociation rates. We find that hmF2 increases with increased heating, whilst foF2 falls. The converse is true for an increase in the cooling rate. Similarly increasing the photodissociation rate increases both hmF2 and foF2. These changes are explained in terms of changes in the neutral temperature, composition and neutral wind.     

On the Limitation of the H/V Spectral Ratio Using Seismic Noise as an Exploration Tool: Application to the Grenoble Valley (France), a Small Apex Ratio Basin

The H/V spectral ratio method based on seismic noise (HVSRN) was used in the Grenoble Basin (France), an Alpine valley characterized by a small apex ratio. The resonance frequencies obtained in the experiments were compared to the thickness of the sediments deduced from a microgravimetric survey and to the 1-D theoretical assessment of site responses. Given the abundance of data on the sediments and depth of the basin, the values of the theoretical resonance frequency f_o can be determined quite accurately. However, it has been observed that the effects of basin geometry can disturb f_o measurements using the HVSR method, in particular for a case like the Grenoble Basin, which has a small apex ratio (w/H) and strong suspected 2-D and/or 3-D effects. Interpretation of f_o values in terms of bedrock depth gives rise to estimation errors of about 10% in certain cases, with the most significant errors (>50%) occurring on the edges of the basin, where subsurface layers are characterised by larger heterogeneities and where the basin topography is accentuated. This study suggests that great care must be taken when using the HVSRN method as an exploration tool, at least in valleys with a small apex ratio.     

Spatial distribution and temporal variation of reference evapotranspiration in arid and semi‐arid regions of Iran

Analysis of spatial and temporal variations of reference evapotranspiration (ET_o) is important in arid and semi‐arid regions where water resources are limited. The main aim of this study was to analyse the spatial distribution and the annual, seasonal and monthly trends of the Penman–Monteith ET_o for 21 stations in the arid and semi‐arid regions of Iran. Three statistical tests the Mann‐Kendall, Sen's slope estimator and linear regression were used for the analysis. The analysis revealed that ET_o increased from January to July and deceased from July to December at almost all stations. Additionally, higher annual ET_o values were found in the southeast of the study region and lower values in the northwest of the region. Although the results showed both positive and negative trends in annual ET_o series, ET_o generally increased, significantly so in six (～30%) of the stations. Analysis of the impacts of meteorological variables on the temporal trends of ET_o indicated that the increasing trend of ET_o was most likely due to a significant increase in minimum air temperature, while decreasing trend of ET_o was mainly caused by a significant decrease in wind speed. At the sites where increasing ET_o trends were statistically significant, the rate of increase varied from (+)8·36 mm/year at Mashhad station to (+)31·68 mm/year at Iranshahr station. On average, an increasing trend of (+)4·42 mm/year was obtained for the whole study area during the last four decades. Seasonal and monthly ET_o have also tended to increase at the majority of the stations. The greatest numbers of significant trends were observed in winter on the seasonal time‐scale and in September on the monthly time‐scale. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.