Possible Ionospheric Electromagnetic Perturbations Induced by the Ms7.1 Yushu Earthquake

The power spectrum density (PSD) of magnetic field in the ELF/VLF band recorded by the experiment IMSC onboard the DEMETER satellite were used to study the Ms7.1 Yushu earthquake taking place on April 13, 2010 in China. The results indicate that possible ionospheric electromagnetic perturbations occurring 4?days before the earthquake in the frequency range [370–897?Hz]. Along the orbit 30880_up, which passed over the epicenter area on 9 April, enhanced PSD value of magnetic field at 410?Hz was detected both over the epicentral area and its conjugate point in the southern hemisphere. While on revisited orbits during other days (before and after the earthquake) the magnetic field spectra remained at a relatively low level. In order to be sure that the electromagnetic disturbances were induced by this Yushu earthquake, relative variations of the magnetic field in the ELF/VLF range [370–897?Hz] were calculated and compared with the normal background during 3?years (2007, 2008 and 2009) in the time interval from Jan. 1st to Apr. 30 and in the area [23°N–43°N, 86°E–106°E]. The results show that the normal level of magnetic field in this area is relatively low (~10^?7?nT²/Hz), but a large increase occurred from Apr. 1st to Apr. 14 which exceeds 5σ_b. After the earthquake, the magnetic field in the ELF/VLF range gradually decreased. In order to exclude the influence of geomagnetic field activity, we selected only the data recorded during magnetically quiet local night-times. In addition, artificial noises were also removed from the dataset used in the present paper. Therefore the observed perturbations were independent of geomagnetic field disturbances, and might be attributed to seismic activity.     

GPS监测电离层活动的方法和最新进展

全球定位系统(GPS)可以快速、准确地提供电离层总电子含量(TEC)信息。简要介绍了GPS技术精确测量TEC、监测电离层的原理和方法，指出进行TEC绝对量估计时求解差分群延迟(DCB)的重要性，以及建立多层和实时电离层监测模型的必要性。分析了影响TEC估计的主要误差源，着重介绍了目前GPS监测电离层的最新成果和进展。     

The DEMETER Science Mission Centre

The DEMETER Scientific Mission Centre (SMC) has been developed and is operated by the Laboratoire de Physique et Chimie de l’Environnement (LPCE). The SMC commands the instruments of the scientific payload, collects and distributes DEMETER data and associated products to the DEMETER international community.The SMC has been designed to maximize scientific return and to reduce development and exploitation costs for the DEMETER project. This paper describes the SMC's data processing system, data server and methods of payload operation, and presents associated hardware and software architectures.     

An agile very low frequency radio spectrum explorer

The very low frequency(VLF) regime below 30 MHz in the electromagnetic spectrum has presently been drawing global attention in radio astronomical research due to its potentially significant science outcomes exploring many unknown extragalactic sources,transients,and so on.However,the nontransparency of the Earth's ionosphere,ionospheric distortion and artificial radio frequency interference(RFI) have made it difficult to detect the VLF celestial radio emission with ground-based instruments.A straightforward solution to overcome these problems is a space-based VLF radio telescope,just like the VLF radio instruments onboard the Chang'E-4 spacecraft.But building such a space telescope would be inevitably costly and technically challenging.The alternative approach would be then a ground-based VLF radio telescope.Particularly,in the period of post 2020 when the solar and terrestrial ionospheric activities are expected to be in a 'calm' state,it will provide us a good chance to perform VLF ground-based radio observations.Anticipating such an opportunity,we built an agile VLF radio spectrum explorer co-located with the currently operational Mingantu Spectra Radio Heliograph(MUSER).The instrument includes four antennas operating in the VLF frequency range 1-70 MHz.Along with them,we employ an eight-channel analog and digital receivers to amplify,digitize and process the radio signals received by the antennas.We present in the paper this VLF radio spectrum explorer and the instrument will be useful for celestial studies of VLF radio emissions.     

Ionospheric currents obtained from the Chatanika radar and ground magnetic perturbations at the Auroral latitude

The relationship between substorm ionospheric currents and the corresponding ground magnetic perturbations is examined, by using the height-integrated ionospheric current density deduced from the Chatanika incoherent scatter radar and the simultaneous magnetic variations along the Alaska meridian chain of stations. Although time variations of the H component near the radar site on the Earth's surface are in good agreement with those of the east-west ionospheric current, there is a substantial disagreement between the current deduced from the D perturbations and the observed north-south current in the evening sector. It is shown that the disagreement can be removed by introducing a new finding by Yasuhara et al. (1975) that the upward field-aligned current on the poleward side of the auroral oval in the evening sector is more intense than its counterpart fieldaligned current and that it contributes greatly to the ground D perturbations.     

A statistical study on the temporal distribution of ionospheric TEC anomalies prior to M7.0+ earthquakes during 2003–2012

In this paper, we conduct a new statistical study on the temporal distribution of the Global Positioning System Total Electron Content (GPS TEC) anomalies prior to the earthquakes with magnitude M≥7.0 in the global area during 2003–2012 by the method of statistical analysis. The temporal distribution of the ionospheric TEC anomalies prior to the earthquakes with magnitude M≥7.0 is for the first time studied. It has been observed that the ionospheric negative anomalies mainly occur in one week prior to the earthquakes, and only when the magnitude is greater than or equal to 7.6, the ionospheric anomalies will have the greatest probability of occurrence in the afternoon to sunset (i.e. between 12:00 and 18:00 local time). They last for approximate 2 hr, but the chance of detecting the significant enhancement in the ionospheric TEC seems not to be a function of time and there is no clear tendency for positive anomalies. In addition, the relationship of the occurrence rate of pre-earthquake ionospheric anomalies and the magnitude of the earthquake is discussed, and it is found that the observed ionospheric TEC anomalies within several days before the earthquakes are highly likely to be related with the earthquakes because the occurrence rate of pre-earthquake ionospheric anomalies seems to increase slightly with the earthquake magnitude increasing.     

Ionospheric effects induced by the Chelyabinsk meteor

The data, obtained for the first time, permit the conclusion to be drawn, with a high degree of probability, that large meteors similar to the Chelyabinsk meteor, while entering the Earth’s atmosphere, are able to cause perturbations within the whole ionospheric stratum, rather than only at the sporadic Es layer altitudes, as previously thought.     

Standing slow magnetosonic waves in a dipole-like plasmasphere

A problem of the structure and spectrum of standing slow magnetosonic waves in a dipole plasmasphere is solved. Both an analytical (in WKB approximation) and numerical solutions are found to the problem, for a distribution of the plasma parameters typical of the Earth's plasmasphere. The solutions allow us to treat the total electronic content oscillations registered above Japan as oscillations of one of the first harmonics of standing slow magnetosonic waves. Near the ionosphere the main components of the field of registered standing SMS waves are the plasma oscillations along magnetic field lines, plasma concentration oscillation and the related oscillations of the gas-kinetic pressure. The velocity of the plasma oscillations increases dramatically near the ionospheric conductive layer, which should result in precipitation of the background plasma particles. This may be accompanied by ionospheric F2 region airglows modulated with the periods of standing slow magnetosonic waves.     

Instruments of RT-2 experiment onboard CORONAS�CPHOTON and their test and evaluation V: onboard software, data structure, telemetry and telecommand

The onboard software and data communication in the RT-2 Experiment onboard the Coronas?CPhoton satellite is organized in a hierarchical way to effectively handle and communicate asynchronous data generated by the X-ray detectors. A flexible data handling system is organized in the X-ray detector packages themselves and the processing electronic device, namely RT-2/E, has the necessary intelligence to communicate with the three scientific payloads by issuing commands and receiving data. It has direct interfacing with the Satellite systems and issues commands to the detectors and processes the detector data before sending to the satellite systems. The onboard software is configured with several novel features like (a) device independent communication scheme, (b) loss-less data compression and (c) Digital Signal Processor. Functionality of the onboard software along with the data structure, command structure, complex processing scheme etc. are discussed in this paper.     

A new technique for understanding magnetosphere–ionosphere coupling using directional derivatives of SuperDARN convection flow

The purpose of this paper is to present and evaluate a new technique to better understand ionospheric convection and it’s magnetospheric drivers using convection maps derived from the Super Dual Auroral Radar Network (SuperDARN). We postulate that the directional derivative of the SuperDARN ionospheric convection flow can be used as a technique for understanding solar wind–magnetosphere–ionosphere coupling by identifying regions of strong acceleration/deceleration of plasma flow associated with drivers of magnetospheric convection such as magnetic reconnection. Thus, the technique may be used to identify the open–closed magnetic field line boundary (OCB) in certain circumstances. In this study, directional derivatives of the SuperDARN ionospheric convection flow over a four and a half hour interval on Nov. 04, 2001, is presented during which the interplanetary magnetic field was predominantly southward. At each one-minute time point in the interval the positive peak in the directional derivative of flow is identified and evaluated via comparison with known indicators of the OCB including the poleward boundary of ultraviolet emissions from three FUV detectors onboard the IMAGE spacecraft as well as the SuperDARN spectral widths. Good comparison is found between the location of the peak in the directional derivative of SuperDARN flow and the poleward boundary of ultraviolet emissions confirming that acceleration of ionospheric plasma flow is associated with magnetic reconnection and the open–closed boundary.     

Sheath effects on DEMETER ion drift measurements

The “Instrument d’Analyse du Plasma” on DEMETER includes an ion drift meter used to measure the direction of the incoming ram plasma ( [Berthelier et al., 2006a] and [Berthelier et al., 2006b]). Given the velocity of the satellite, and expected flow velocities of plasma along DEMETER's orbit, it is estimated that at mid latitudes, the direction of incident plasma as measured by IAP should be within approximately 2° of the ram direction. Yet, significantly larger angular deviations are measured routinely. An important assumption made in the interpretation of onboard instruments, such as IAP, is that neither the spacecraft nor the instrument significantly perturb the plasma that is being measured. In view of the large observed angular deviations, this paper examines the possible effect of the electrostatic sheath surrounding IAP. This is done with the 3D PIC simulation code PTetra. The model uses a full 3D particle in cell code with unstructured tetrahedral mesh capable of accurately representing the satellite geometry. The mesh is also adaptive so as to provide a fine spatial resolution in the vicinity of the particle sensor where it is needed, and a coarse resolution in regions where plasma parameters vary over a longer scale length. Calculation results show that while particle deflection associated with the electrostatic sheath near IAP can account for appreciable angular deflections for representative ionospheric plasmas, they are typically smaller than the ones observed. Additionally, the model is unable to reproduce the latitudinal dependence of the observed large deflection angles. It is concluded that sheath effects may cause appreciable distortions on the IAP type of ion flow meter instruments, and on other particle sensors in general. The larger observed deviations and their latitudinal dependence, however, must be attributable to other physical processes not accounted for in the model.     

Springtime effects in the mesosphere and ionosphere observed at northern midlatitudes

Nighttime volume emission rates and rotational temperatures, obtained from simultaneous observations of molecular oxygen and hydroxyl airglow at Almaty (43.25°N, 76.92°E) and Sierra-Nevada (37.2°N, 356.7°E), along with ionospheric density derived from foF2 in the vertical sounding ionograms over Almaty are analysed to study the variability and coupling of parameters observed in the upper mesosphere and ionosphere during the period of February - April, 2000.Ionospheric critical frequency measurements and airglow observations by the Mesopause Rotational Temperature Imager (MORTI) at Almaty and the Spectral Airglow Temperature Imager (SATI) at Sierra-Nevada Observatories show an increase in long-period planetary wave (PW) activity from the end of February until the middle of March, 2000.Very good agreement was found in the temporal variations of emission rates and rotational temperatures from March 1-15, 2000 measured at the Almaty and Sierra-Nevada sites. Similar perturbations could also be seen in the ionospheric critical frequency (ΔfoF2) obtained as a difference between current foF2 values and an ionospheric background level.The perturbations observed have been interpreted employing the Met office stratospheric model results. Latitudinal structure of a quasi 5-day wave was identified, for which the first-symmetric-mode amplitude and symmetric behaviour of phase are in good agreement with theoretical prediction. The analysis of the Met office stratospheric data indicate the presence of westward-propagating PW with periods of ∼5 and 10 days during the period of interest. The temporal correlation between planetary scale oscillations observed in the datasets examined (ionospheric, optical and meteorological) suggest dynamical coupling with the stratosphere. A negative disturbance in ΔfoF2 of ∼25% observed 1 day before a sharp increase in the MORTI mesospheric rotational temperature registered on March 10 at Almaty, is also discussed in the context of the possible stratosphere/mesosphere/ionosphere coupling.     

New Solar Broad-Band Hard X-Ray Spectrometer: First Results

The scientific and operational aims of the Czech-made Hard X-Ray Spectrometer (HXRS) launched onboard the U.S. Department of Energy Multispectral Thermal Imager satellite (MTI), on 12 March 2000 are discussed. The principal operating characteristics of the instrument such as the temporal resolution, energy band selection, spectral sensitivity, and the in-flight calibration procedure are described as well as the technical details of the spectrometer including detectors, shielding (against charged particles) and electronic design. The MTI host satellite and its orbit are briefly described. Recent observations by the 3 GHz Ondřejov radiometer are compared with HXRS data to demonstrate one example of the HXRS data utilization: the temporal relation between hard X-rays and radio emission. These results show relatively long time delays (2–14 s) of the GHz broadband radio pulses relative to the hard X-ray emission peaks. Access to the HXRS data base via the Internet is provided.     

Determination of the surface-averaged composition of the regolith of phobos by measurements of the secondary ion flux during the <Emphasis Type="Italic">Phobos-Grunt</Emphasis> mission in the MANAGA-F experiment

The onboard time-of-flight mass reflectron MANAGA-F is described which is aimed at measuring the elemental and isotopic composition of the secondary ion fluxes generated under the influence of solar wind. It is shown that by using this apparatus, the composition of the surface regolith layer averaged over a considerable area can be determined while approaching Phobos. After the landing of the spacecraft on the surface of Phobos, the measurements will be aimed at examining the local characteristics of the regolith and a new mechanism for water synthesis in the process of ion collisions. The apparatus allows for the mass of the secondary molecular ions to be detected and determined, including organic ones which arise during the bombardment of the regolith by ions of different origins. The main scientific problems to be solved using the given apparatus are considered in the paper. The working principle of the apparatus together with its analytical and technical characteristics and design particularities are presented. Information concerning the range of its applications for solving a number of challenging tasks of contemporary science is given. The MANAGA-F apparatus is shown to be the first realization of an original new-generation onboard device that has been invented, developed, and produced at the Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences (SRI RAS).     

Field-aligned currents above an auroral arc

Simultaneous observations of precipitating electrons and protons in the energy range from 15 eV to 35 keV and magnetic field variations were made onboard a sounding rocket payload launched from the Andoya Rocket Range. The electric current density deduced from the electron precipitation observed during the passage over an auroral arc was comparable to that determined from the magnetic field variations. In addition, a downward current was observed by its magnetic field signature at the northern edge of the arc which was, however, not accompanied by significant particle fluxes in the energy range under consideration. It will be assumed that this current was carried by thermal electrons of ionospheric origin.     

On Continuous Observations of Thin Walls of High-Density Plasma in the High-Latitude Ionosphere from <Emphasis Type="Italic">Arktika-M</Emphasis> Satellites

A new structure element of the Arctic ionosphere has been detected from the data of topside sounding of the ionosphere: quasi-vertical walls of high-density plasma. The importance of studying this phenomenon for geophysics and the practice of radio wave propagation in high latitudes is noted. The Arktika-M hydrometeorological space complex with an onboard ionosonde is proposed for its study. The possibility of observing and analyzing all life-cycle phases of this ionospheric inhomogeneity is shown.     

State studies of Earth's plasmasphere: A review

The plasmasphere sandwiched between the ionosphere and the outer magnetosphere is populated by up flow of ionospheric cold (∼1 eV) and dense plasma along geomagnetic field lines. Recent observations from various instruments onboard IMAGE and CLUSTER spacecrafts have made significant advances in our understanding of plasma density irregularities, plume formation, erosion and refilling of the plasmasphere, presence of thermal structures in the plasmasphere and existence of radiation belts. Still modeling work and more observational data are required for clear understanding of plasmapause formation, existence of various sizes and shapes of density structures inside the plasmasphere as well as on the surface of the plasmapause, plasmasphere filling and erosion processes; which are important in understanding the relation of the process proceeding in the Sun and solar wind to the processes observed in the Earth's atmosphere and ionosphere.