Longitudinal statistics of plasma bubbles observed as He+ density depletions at altitudes of the topside ionosphere

This work presents a new examination of the hypothesis regarding the equatorial origin of low He⁺ density plasma depletions (or subtroughs). For this purpose, we have conducted a detailed comparative analysis of longitudinal variations in the occurrence probabilities of subtroughs in both hemispheres and variations in the occurrence probabilities of equatorial F-region irregularities (EFIs), equatorial spread F (RFS and ESF), and equatorial plasma bubbles (EPBs). Taking into consideration the seasonal dependence and some peculiarities of magnetic field variations in different hemispheres, a conclusion has been reached regarding the similarity between longitudinal statistical occurrences of subtroughs and equatorial ionospheric F-region irregularities. In addition, another piece of evidence in favor of the similarity of the nature of the above-mentioned phenomena has been obtained. We have got a confirmation once again that low He⁺ density depletions (or subtroughs) can be rightfully considered as equatorial plasma “bubbles,” which can be observed at altitudes of the topside ionosphere as depletions in the He⁺ density.     

Equatorial plasma bubbles studied using African slant total electron content observations

Equatorial plasma bubbles (EPBs) are field-aligned depletions of F-region ionospheric plasma density that grow from irregularities caused by the generalized Rayleigh–Taylor instability mechanism in the postsunset equatorial sector. Although they have been studied for some decades, they continue to be an important subject of both experimental and theoretical investigations because of their effects on trans-ionospheric radio communications.In this work, calibrated data of slant total electron content (sTEC) taken every 10 min from EGNOS System Test Bed Brazzaville (Congo), Douala (Cameroon), Lome (Togo) and N’Djamena (Chad), and International GNSS Service Ascension Island, Malindi (Kenya), and Libreville (Gabon), stations are used to detect plasma bubbles in the African equatorial region during the first 6 months of 2004. To identify these irregularities, the trend of every curve of sTEC against time is subtracted from the original data. The size of the EPBs is estimated by measuring its amplitude in the de-trended time variation of sTEC.     

中纬热层大气质量密度经向结构差异研究

本文利用CHAMP卫星以及全球电离层-热层模型(GITM)来研究太阳活动低年(2007—2009年)中纬热层大气质量密度(ρ)的经度结构变化.结果如下:(1)ρ存在明显的经度单波结构(单峰和单谷),且南北半球反相,波峰和波谷随着地方时增加而向东移动;(2)模拟表明离子拖曳效应在ρ结构差异的形成中起到了重要的作用,欧亚地区电子密度经度差异性较弱,不足以影响ρ经度分布,导致该地区ρ经度差异不明显;(3)在磁中纬地区,太阳天顶角的经度差异可达20°~30°,太阳光加热的经度不均匀性是导致ρ经度差异的另一个主要原因.     

The temporal evolution of the large equatorial plasma depletions observed during the 29–30 October 2003 storm

This study investigates the temporal evolution of the large plasma depletions observed by ROCSAT-1 and DMSP near 295°E during the 29–30 October 2003 storm. The presence of a penetration electric field around the detection time of the large plasma depletions is supported by the observation of high upward ion drift velocity and formation of an intense equatorial ionization anomaly in the American sector. However, these ionospheric disturbances occur in broad longitude regions; a short-range polarization electric field may adequately explain the creation of the large plasma depletions. The penetration electric field may trigger the Rayleigh–Taylor instability and produce abnormally large plasma depletions during the storm. The TIMED/GUVI and CHAMP observations provide an insight for the evolution of the large depletions several hours after their formation. The large depletions appear as arch-shaped emission depletions in the TIMED/GUVI image and as symmetric depletions paired in the magnetic north and south in the CHAMP observation. These characteristics can be explained by the “plasma depletion shell” phenomenon (Kil et al., 2009) produced by the westward shear flow of the ionosphere during the storm.     

IMF Bz周期震荡期间日间热层扰动风的经度差异分析

基于磁层-电离层-热层耦合模型(Coupled Magnetosphere-Ionosphere-Thermosphere Model,CMIT),本文探究了当行星际磁场Bz分量(Interplanetary magnetic field,IMF) 60 min周期震荡时,白天热层扰动风的经度差异特征.由于地磁构型、热...     

磁暴期间极光椭圆与极盖区电离层效应比较研究——F区负暴

联合利用EISCAT和E-Svalbard非相干散射雷达数据,研究l997年5月强磁暴期间向阳侧极盖与极光椭圆区电离层F区负暴.发现在磁暴主相和恢复相初期,极光椭圆和极盖区电离层都在大约l90km高度出现类似F1的峰,F2主峰完全消失,F区电子密度大幅度下降.但离子温度的变化在两个区域很不相同,在极光椭圆区大幅度升高,而在极盖区没有显著变化,反映出引起F区负暴的主要机制在两个区域不尽相同.强对流电场引起大气焦耳加热与离子增温而使O+离子消失的化学反应速率增大所导致的电离损失,对极光椭圆区负暴起主要作用;而输运过程,特别是持续长达数小时的沿场上行离子流,对极盖区负暴起重要作用.磁暴主相期间,当EISCAT雷达位于等离子体对流涡旋转换区下方时,在无焦耳加热与离子摩擦增温的情况下,观测到由顶部电离层O+离子沿场高速外流引起的F区电子密度耗空.     

Effects of atmospheric oscillations on the field-aligned ion motions in the polar F-region

The field-aligned neutral oscillations in the F-region (altitudes between 165 and 275 km) were compared using data obtained simultaneously with two independent instruments: the European Incoherent Scatter (EISCAT) UHF radar and a scanning Fabry-Perot interferometer (FPI). During the night of February 8, 1997, simultaneous observations with these instruments were conducted at Tromsø, Norway. Theoretically, the field-aligned neutral wind velocity can be obtained from the field-aligned ion velocity and by diffusion and ambipolar diffusion velocities. We thus derived field-aligned neutral wind velocities from the plasma velocities in EISCAT radar data. They were compared with those observed with the FPI (=630.0 nm), which are assumed to be weighted height averages of the actual neutral wind. The weighting function is the normalized height dependent emission rate. We used two model weighting functions to derive the neutral wind from EISCAT data. One was that the neutral wind velocity observed with the FPI is velocity integrated over the entire emission layer and multiplied by the theoretical normalized emission rate. The other was that the neutral wind velocity observed with the FPI corresponds to the velocity only around an altitude where the emission rate has a peak. Differences between the two methods were identified, but not completely clarified. However, the neutral wind velocities from both instruments had peak-to-peak correspondences at oscillation periods of about 10–40 min, shorter than that for the momentum transfer from ions to neutrals, but longer than from neutrals to ions. The synchronizing motions in the neutral wind velocities suggest that the momentum transfer from neutrals to ions was thought to be dominant for the observed field-aligned oscillations rather than the transfer from ions to neutrals. It is concluded that during the observation, the plasma oscillations observed with the EISCAT radar at different altitudes in the F-region are thought to be due to the motion of neutrals.     

Equatorial Plasma Bubbles: Effect of Thermospheric Winds Modulated by DE3 Tidal Waves

A hypothesis about the effect of the tropospheric source on the longitudinal distributions of the equatorial plasma bubbles observed in the topside ionosphere was proposed earlier. It was supposed that this influence is transferred mainly by the thermospheric winds modulated by the DE3 tropospheric tidal waves. This conclusion was based on the discovered high degree correlation (R ? 0.79) between the variations of the longitudinal distribution of the plasma bubbles and the neutral atmospheric density. In this work, the hypothesis of the effect of the thermospheric tidal waves on the plasma bubbles at the stage of their generation is subjected to further verification. With this purpose, the longitudinal distributions of the frequency of the plasma bubble observations at the different ionospheric altitudes (~600 km, ROCSAT-1; ~1100 km, ISS-b) are analyzed; their principal similarity is revealed. Comparative analysis of these distributions with the longitudinal profile of the deviations of the zonal thermospheric wind (~400 km, CHAMP) modulated by the DE3 tidal wave is carried out; their considerable correlation (R ? 0.69) is revealed. We conclude that the longitudinal variations of the zonal wind associated with DE3 tidal waves can effect the longitudinal variations in the appearance frequency of the initial “seeding” perturbations, which further evolve into the plasma bubbles.     

大功率电波加热电离层中热自聚焦不稳定性的理论研究和数值模拟

本文首先从电子密度及电子温度的输运方程和考虑自作用时的电磁波波动方程出发,利用简正模展开的方法推导出泵波在反射区域激发出热自聚焦不稳定性(thermal self-focusing instabilities,TSFI)所需电场阈值以及其增长率的完整数学表达式,并估算了TSFI激发阈值及所对应的有效辐射功率(ERP)的量级.随后利用三维垂直加热的理论模型,结合国际参考电离层(IRI-2012)和中性大气模型(MSIS-E-00)给出的背景参数,数值模拟了大功率高频泵波加热电离层时泵波反射区域电子密度及电子温度因TSFI而产生的变化及发展的过程,并对比分析了不同背景参数对较热效果的影响.结果表明:当高频泵波的加热阈值达到或超过百毫伏每米的量级时,即可激发TSFI,发展出大尺度电子密度及温度不均匀体,这些不均匀体内的密度耗空约为4%~10%,而电子温度剧烈增长,到达背景温度值的1.6~2.1倍;且在相当的加热条件下,背景电子温度越低、电子密度越小,加热效果越显著;电子密度及电子温度的扰动幅度随着加热时间的推移而逐渐减小,即扰动逐渐趋于饱和,且电子温度要快于电子密度达到饱和状态.本文还对泵波反射高度处的电子密度及电子温度变化率进行采样并求得其功率谱密度,分析结果表明:TSFI发展出的大尺度不均匀体满足幂律谱结构,谱指数随着加热的进行逐渐趋于稳定,白天与夜间的幂律谱指数区别不大,但电子密度与电子温度的幂律谱有所区别.     

Perturbations of the upper atmosphere in the cleft region

In the dayside polar region—loosely referred to as the cleft region—particle precipitation and Joule heating cause significant perturbations of the upper atmosphere. Here Dynamics Explorer-2 satellite data are used to present a synopsis of these disturbance effects. Documented are an increase in electron temperature and a decrease in electron density; increases in ion drift speed and ion temperature; an increase in the upward-directed ion velocity; increases in zonal wind speed and neutral gas temperature; and changes in the neutral gas composition and mass density. It is suggested that the increase in electron temperature is partly controlled by the decrease in electron density; that the ion upflow velocity mainly depends on the electron temperature, less frequently on the ion temperature; and that the observed decrease in thermospheric mass density is due to a decrease in the atomic oxygen density, which in turn is caused by diverging wind flows.     

Response of the ionosphere–thermosphere system to magnetospheric processes

The magnetosphere–ionosphere–thermosphere system at high latitudes is strongly coupled via electric fields, particle precipitation, plasma and neutral outflows, and field-aligned currents. Although the climatology of the coupled system is fairly well established, our understanding of the variability of the disturbed state (weather) is rudimentary. This variability is associated with magnetic storms and substorms, nonlinear processes that operate over a range of spatial scales, time delays, and feedback mechanisms between the different domains. The variability and resultant structure of the ionosphere can appear in the form of propagating plasma patches and polar wind jets, pulsing ion and neutral polar winds, auroral and boundary blobs, and ionization channels associated with polar cap arcs, discrete auroral arcs, and storm-enhanced densities (SEDs). The variability and structure of the thermosphere can appear in the form of propagating atmospheric holes, neutral gas fountains, neutral density patches, and transient neutral jets. In addition, during periods of enhanced plasma convection, the neutral winds can become supersonic in relatively narrow regions of the polar cap. The spatial structure in the ionosphere–thermosphere system not only affects the local environment, but the cumulative effect of multiple structures may affect the global circulation and energy balance. A focused topical review of recent results in our modeling the variability and structure of the high-latitude ionosphere–thermosphere system is presented. This review was given at the Greenland Space Science Symposium (May 2007).     

Analysis of the positive ionospheric response to a moderate geomagnetic storm using a global numerical model

Current theories of F-layer storms are discussed using numerical simulations with the Upper Atmosphere Model, a global self-consistent, time dependent numerical model of the thermosphere-ionosphere-plasmasphere-magnetosphere system including electrodynamical coupling effects. A case study of a moderate geomagnetic storm at low solar activity during the northern winter solstice exemplifies the complex storm phenomena. The study focuses on positive ionospheric storm effects in relation to thermospheric disturbances in general and thermospheric composition changes in particular. It investigates the dynamical effects of both neutral meridional winds and electric fields caused by the disturbance dynamo effect. The penetration of short-time electric fields of magnetospheric origin during storm intensification phases is shown for the first time in this model study. Comparisons of the calculated thermospheric composition changes with satellite observations of AE-C and ESRO-4 during storm time show a good agreement. The empirical MSISE90 model, however, is less consistent with the simulations. It does not show the equatorward propagation of the disturbances and predicts that they have a gentler latitudinal gradient. Both theoretical and experimental data reveal that although the ratio of [O]/[N₂] at high latitudes decreases significantly during the magnetic storm compared with the quiet time level, at mid to low latitudes it does not increase (at fixed altitudes) above the quiet reference level. Meanwhile, the ionospheric storm is positive there. We conclude that the positive phase of the ionospheric storm is mainly due to uplifting of ionospheric F2-region plasma at mid latitudes and its equatorward movement at low latitudes along geomagnetic field lines caused by large-scale neutral wind circulation and the passage of travelling atmospheric disturbances (TADs). The calculated zonal electric field disturbances also help to create the positive ionospheric disturbances both at middle and low latitudes. Minor contributions arise from the general density enhancement of all constituents during geomagnetic storms, which favours ion production processes above ion losses at fixed height under day-light conditions.     

Spectral analysis of plasma drift measurements from the AE-E satellite: evidence of an inertial subrange in equatorial spread F

Plasma drift data from the AE-E satellite are spectrally analyzed to investigate the characteristics of the flow in the topside equatorial F region ionosphere during strong spread F conditions. Plasma flow around rapidly rising depletions is thought to exhibit behavior similar to two-dimensional Kolmogorov turbulence, but only on flux tubes with sufficiently small integrated ion–neutral collision frequencies. We find that one-dimensional spectra computed from vertical plasma drift measurements made in such depletions on such flux tubes tend to display a −5/3 spectral index over scale sizes from about 1 to $\text{100}\text{km}$, suggesting the operation of an inverse energy cascade. This universal spectral form is evidence of an inertial regime of the underlying ionospheric interchange instability.     

On the spectrum of mid-latitude sporadic-E irregularities

We discuss the creation of mid-latitude sporadic-E plasma irregularities (with length-scales smaller than sporadic layer thickness) by the neutral atmosphere turbulence. Using fluid equations, the relation between plasma density fluctuations and the velocity field of neutrals is derived. After a brief discussion of the relevant neutral turbulence, the analytical expression for the power spectrum of plasma irregularities is obtained. This expression allows a power-law type of experimental irregularity spectra (the spectral index depends on sporadic-E characteristics) and possible departures in detail of the irregularity spectra from the power-law form to be explained. In addition, it allows us to make estimates of length-scales at which such departures must occur.     

Thermospheric Meridional Wind Control on Equatorial Scintillations and the Role of the Evening F-Region Height Rise, E?×?B Drift Velocities and F2-Peak Density Gradients

The possible role, on L-band scintillation activity, played by the nighttime magnetic meridional component of the thermospheric horizontal neutral winds, the post-sunset F-layer base height, the electrical field pre-reversal enhancement (PRE) and the latitudinal gradients of the F2-layer peak density is analyzed, considering different cases of scintillation occurrence (and their latitudinal extent) during August and September 2002. The meridional winds were derived over low-latitudes from a modified form of the nonlinear time-dependent servo-model. A chain of two scintillation monitors and three digital ionosondes was operational in Brazil and used to collect, respectively, global positioning system signal amplitude scintillation and ionospheric height (h′F; hpF2) and frequency (foF2) parameters. From the overall behavior in the 2 months analyzed, the results suggest that high near sunset upward vertical plasma drifts are conducive for the generation of spread-F irregularities, whereas large poleward meridional winds tend to suppress the development of plasma bubble irregularities and the occurrence of their associated scintillations. Even when generated, a reduced fountain effect, due to weak electric field PRE, acts for the bubbles to be expanded less effectively to higher latitudes. The results also reveal that high F-layer base and peak heights (at equatorial and off-equatorial latitudes), and intense gradients in the F2-peak density between the dip equator and the equatorial anomaly crests, are favorable conditions for the generation of F-region irregularities and increased scintillation activity. Other distinct features of the controlling factors in the cases of occurrence and non-occurrence of equatorial scintillations are presented and discussed.     

Two observed consequences of penetration electric fields

The influence of penetration electric fields (PEF) on storm-time energetic particles in the inner magnetosphere and on the stability of plasma in the low-latitude ionosphere is widely recognized. We describe two consequences of PEFs, regularly observed during magnetic storms that indicate their persistence throughout the main phases. These are (1) the presence of equatorial plasma bubbles (EPB) across the evening local time sector during main phases and their absence throughout recovery, and (2) detections of low-energy ion precipitation in the dawn sector equatorward of the auroral electron boundary.     

Plasma disturbance sources in the postsunset low-latitude outer ionosphere according to the Intercosmos-Bulgaria-1300 satellite

The satellite low-latitude and midlatitude measurements of the disturbed postsunset plasma density and electron temperature at altitudes of ～900 km have been compared with the data of incoherent scattering and high-altitude rocket launching at the corresponding local time. It has been found that plasma density disturbances are independently caused by the turbulent interaction between atmospheric masses of gas and plasma ascending from heated and not yet cooled ionospheric regions and cooling masses descending from protonospheric altitudes. Plasma regions with an energetically nonequilibrium vertical density distribution of the mixture of heavy ion impurity (O⁺) and major light ions (H⁺) can simultaneously appear, as a result of which the gradient-drift impurity instability is generated. If this instability is sufficiently developed, there appears an anomalous ion drift with the formation of real plasma regions of decreased density. All these phenomena generate different irregularities in a wide range of scales: from several tens or hundreds of meters to several hundreds of kilometers.     

海南电离层F区不规则体的气辉观测

本文利用子午工程海南富克站(19.5°N,109.2°E)全天空气辉成像仪630nm波段的气辉图像,通过对气辉原始观测资料进行图像增强、方位校正和图像投影等预处理,得到可清晰识别电离层等离子体泡的图像产品,获得了我国海南地区首次电离层等离子体泡的光学观测结果.在此基础上,分析了等离子体泡的形状、结构、变化、空间尺度和运动速度这些基本特征.研究显示:典型的等离子体泡形状为南北分布的条状,常出现分叉现象,大部分情况整体向西倾斜;东西方向的尺寸为几十到几百公里;典型漂移速度为50~150 m·s~(-1).统计了2013年9月至2014年5月等离子体泡观测数据,发现其出现的典型季节为9—10月和2—4月、典型时间为日落后1~2个小时并持续1~4个小时左右.