Using observations from the GPS and TOPEX satellites to investigate night-time TEC enhancements at mid-latitudes in the southern hemisphere during a low sunspot number period

The state of the ionization of the upper atmosphere at low and mid latitudes in the Australian region has been studied by investigating the total electron content (TEC) obtained by a dual-frequency group path and phase path GPS technique. For the low sunspot number time period of March 1995–February 1996, one week of data centred on the Priority Regular World Day for each month have been used to investigate night-time mid-latitude peaks occurring around midnight in the Australian region. TEC from TOPEX provided additional information related to the formation of the night-time peaks. Although night-time TEC enhancements have been observed previously, there is no general agreement on their origin. From the results of the present study, the development of midnight TEC enhancements coincided with the low latitude processes occurring at around the time of vertical E×B drift velocity reversal. The TOPEX results confirmed that the upward E×B drift velocity reversal and the downward plasma flow from greater heights producing the night-time peaks at mid latitudes are triggered from a common source: the westward electric field.     

Precursory phenomena observed in the total electron content measurements before great Hokkaido earthquake of September 25, 2003 (<Emphasis Type="Italic">M</Emphasis> = 8.3)

In this paper the analysis of the ionospheric total electron content (TEC) variations obtained with using GPS measurements before the Hokkaido earthquake (M = 8.3) is presented. Anomalous behavior of TEC was detected within several days before the main event. Anomaly appeared as the local TEC enhancement situated in the vicinity of the forthcoming earthquake epicenter. These structures occurred during 5 days prior to the shock at the same interval of local time. At the process of the earthquake approach the amplitude of modification was increased, and it has reached the 85–90% level relative to the non-disturbed conditions 18 hours before the earthquake. The area of strong positive disturbance has extended over 1500 km in latitudes and 4000 km in longitudes. The analysis have shown that according to the series of characteristics (its locality, affinity with the epicenter, dome-shaped zone of manifestation, characteristic time of existence) the detected ionospheric anomaly may be associated to the precursors of seismic activity.     

On the sensitivity of total electron content (TEC) to upper atmospheric/ionospheric parameters

The total electron content (TEC) is a key ionospheric parameter for various space weather applications. Over the last decade an extensive database of TEC measurements has become available from both space- and ground-based observations, and these measurements have established the general morphology of the global TEC distributions. In particular, the TOPEX TEC measurements have shown strong longitudinal variations of TEC in addition to the observed day-to-day variabilities. To better understand the observed TEC variations and to better guide its modeling, we have studied the sensitivity of quiet-time TEC to the following key atmospheric and ionospheric parameters: neutral density, neutral wind, plasma temperatures, plasmaspheric flux, and the O⁺–O collision frequency. These parameters are often only roughly known and can cause large uncertainties in model results. For this study, we have developed a numerical mid-latitude ionospheric model, which solves the momentum and continuity equations for the O⁺ density and a simplified set of equations for the H⁺ density. To obtain TEC, the calculated ion densities have been integrated from the bottom altitude (100 km) to the altitude of the TOPEX satellite (1336 km). Our study shows that during the day the neutral wind and the neutral composition have the most important effect on TEC. In particular, the zonal component of the neutral wind can have a large effect on TEC in the southern hemisphere where the magnetic declination angle is large. During the night, most of the above-mentioned parameters can play a significant role in the TEC morphology, except for the plasma temperature, which has only a small effect on TEC. Finally, the TEC varies roughly linearly with respect to all of the parameters except for the neutral wind.     

磁偏角和热层风对中纬电离层TEC经度分布的影响

本文利用北美、南美和大洋洲三个地区的电离层TEC数据,分析了磁偏角为零的经度线两侧中纬电离层TEC的差异.结果表明,在2001年至2010年的几乎所有季节,在磁偏角为零的经度东西两侧,北美、南美和大洋洲中纬电离层TEC都存在规则性的差异;中纬电离层TEC的这种经度差异显著地依赖地方时,对季节和太阳活动水平也有不同程度的依赖.地磁场影响下电离层与热层动力学耦合的分析表明,磁偏角的经度变化和热层风的地方时变化两者的共同作用是引起磁偏角为零的经度两侧中纬电离层TEC差异的重要原因之一.     

北半球电离层中纬槽发生率及其槽极小位置变化的统计研究

本文利用2014年9月到2017年8月全球高时空分辨率TEC数据对北半球四个经度带电离层中纬槽的发生率和槽极小位置的变化进行了统计研究.基于Kp指数,我们引入了一个包含地磁活动变化历史效应的地磁指数(Kp 9)来分析中纬槽位置变化与地磁活动水平的关系.通过与其他地磁活动指数的对比,发现槽极小纬度与Kp 9指数的相关性最好.此外,本文重点分析了中纬槽发生率及槽极小纬度的经度差异、季节变化、地方时变化以及与地磁活动强度等的关系.结果表明,中纬槽的发生率与经度关系不大,主要受到季节、地方时与地磁活动的影响.午夜中纬槽发生率在夏季较低,其随地方时的变化则呈现出负偏态分布的特点,在后半夜发生率更高,而地磁活动增强对中纬槽的发生具有明显的促进作用.对于槽极小纬度,其在四个经度带的分布差异不大,但月变化各不相同,其中-120°经度带呈单峰分布,在夏季槽极小纬度更高,而0°经度带夏季槽极小纬度更低.槽极小的位置显著依赖于地磁活动、地方时以及季节变化.一般说来,地磁活动越强,中纬槽纬度越低.中纬槽位置随地方时的变化有明显的季节差异,冬季昏侧槽极小纬度随地方时变化较快,弱地磁活动条件下22∶00 LT前即达到最低纬度,其后位置几乎保持不变,而两分季槽极小纬度从昏侧至午夜都在降低,夏季槽极小纬度从昏侧连续下降至03∶00 LT左右.     

Morphology and causes of the Weddell Sea anomaly

The zone of anomalous diurnal variations in foF2, which is characterized by an excess of nighttime foF2 values over daytime ones, has been distinguished in the Southern Hemisphere based on the Intercosmos-19 satellite data. In English literature, this zone is usually defined as the Weddell Sea anomaly (WSA). The anomaly occupies the longitudes of 180°–360° E in the Western Hemisphere and the latitudes of 40°–80° S, and the effect is maximal (up to ∼5 MHz) at longitudes of 255°–315° E and latitudes of 60°–70° S (50°–55° ILAT). The anomaly is observed at all levels of solar activity. The anomaly formation causes have been considered based on calculations and qualitative analysis. For this purpose, the longitudinal variations in the ionospheric and thermospheric parameters in the Southern Hemisphere have been analyzed in detail for near-noon and near-midnight conditions. The analysis shows that the daytime foF2 values are much smaller in the Western Hemisphere than in the Eastern one, and, on the contrary, the nighttime values are much larger, as a result of which the foF2 diurnal variations are anomalous. Such a character of the longitudinal effect mainly depends on the vertical plasma drift under the action of the neutral wind and ionization by solar radiation. Other causes have also been considered: the composition and temperature of the atmosphere, plasma flows from the plasmasphere, electric fields, particle precipitation, and the relationship to the equatorial anomaly and the main ionospheric trough.     

Automated daily process for global ionospheric total electron content maps and satellite ocean altimeter ionospheric calibration based on Global Positioning System data

The accuracy of single-frequency ocean altimeters benefits from calibration of the total electron content (TEC) of the ionosphere below the satellite. Data from a global network of Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers provides timely, continuous, and globally well-distributed measurements of ionospheric electron content. For several months we have been running a daily automatic Global Ionospheric Map process which inputs global GPS data and climatological ionosphere data into a Kalman filter, and produces global ionospheric TEC maps and ocean altimeter calibration data within 24 h of the end-of-day. Other groups have successfully applied this output to altimeter data from the GFO satellite and in orbit determination for the TOPEX/Poseidon satellite. Daily comparison of the global TEC maps with independent TEC data from the TOPEX altimeter is performed as a check on the calibration whenever the TOPEX data are available. Comparisons of the global TEC maps against TOPEX data will be discussed. Accuracy is best at mid-to-high absolute latitudes (∣latitude∣>30°) due to the better geographic distribution of GPS receivers and the relative simplicity of the ionosphere. Our highly data-driven technique is relatively less accurate at low latitudes and especially during ionospheric storm periods, due to the relative scarcity of GPS receivers and the structure and volatility of the ionosphere. However, it is still significantly more accurate than climatological models.     

中纬度电离层电子总量冬夜增长研究

本文研究太阳活动低年期间英国South Uist、Hawick和Aberystwyth三台站电离层电子总量的冬夜行为特性。法拉第旋转记录分析表明,中纬度电离层电子总量冬夜增长幅度和出现率同季节和台站纬度有关。文中详细考察了冬夜增长的发生时刻和持续时间的分布状况,电子总量冬夜极大值位置,冬夜电子总量W型特征面貌,冬夜增长的运动速度与方向等,发现电离层电子总量冬夜值和冬夜增长同地磁活动指数之间存在着负相关关系。对冬夜增长的机制,本文提出一种磁共轭电离迁移与等离子层电离库原理。指出在冬夏至期间,由于南北半球的太阳天顶角、日照时间、大气温度和电离密度的显著差别,在全球范围内依次于各地傍晚时分,发生一种从夏半球中纬度电离层沿高空磁力线并经等离子层电离库的调节,而朝向冬半球中纬度电离层共轭区的电离迁移和电离层贸易风,以此来解释电离层电子总量的夜间行为。     

Anomalous modification of the ionospheric total electron content prior to the 26 September 2005 Peru earthquake

This paper investigates the features of pre-earthquake ionospheric anomalies in the total electron content (TEC) data obtained on the basis of regular GPS observations from the International GNSS Service (IGS) network. For the analysis of the ionospheric effects of the 26 September 2005 Peru earthquake, Global Ionospheric Maps (GIMs) of TEC were used. The possible influence of the earthquake preparation processes on the main low-latitude ionosphere peculiarity—the equatorial anomaly—is discussed. Analysis of the TEC maps has shown that modification of the equatorial anomaly occurred a few days before the earthquake. In previous days, during the evening and night hours (local time—LT), a specific transformation of the TEC distribution had taken place. This modification took the shape of a double-crest structure with a trough near the epicenter, though usually in this time the restored normal latitudinal distribution with a maximum near the magnetic equator is observed. Additional measurements (CHAMP satellite) have also confirmed the presence of this structure. To compare the vertical TEC measurements obtained with GPS satellite signals (GPS TEC), the International Reference Ionosphere, IRI-2001, was used for calculating the IRI TEC.     

Global pattern of the ionospheric response to large-scale internal gravity waves

The global pattern of the ionospheric response to large-scale acoustic gravity waves (LS AGW) has been constructed on the basis of an analysis of the large data set available during the 22 March 1979, magnetic storm. Ground-based ionospheric measurements and in-situ satellite measurements from Cosmos-900 were used in this study together with the Joule heating distribution in the high-latitude ionosphere specifically taken at the maxima of two substorms. The characteristics of the reconstructed planetary pattern of the LS AGW have been analysed in detail. It has been established that the LS AGW effects in the ionosphere in terms of both universal and local time were determined by the pattern of high-latitude atmospheric heating, and that the wave front of the LS AGW during both substorms covered practically all local times, i.e. all longitudes. In addition, it was established that one of the sources of the LS AGW was the thermospheric heating in the day-side cusp region. The local time dependence of the amplitude of the AGW effect in both maximum height, h_mF2, and critical frequency, f_OF2, has been reconstructed for the mid-latitude F2 layer. The AGW effects were clearly separated from the electric field effects related to turnings of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) B_Z. In the day-time, electric field effects prevailed over the AGW effects, but during the night-time the amplitudes of these two effects were comparable. In contrast to the common view, f_OF2 variations after the AGW passage had a quasi-sinusoidal character both in the day-time and in the night-time. In the night-time ionosphere a high degree of symmetry was observed for the AGW effects in Northern and Southern hemispheres. During the day-time a significant asymmetry was observed in the American longitudinal sector which was related largely to the peculiarities of the heating pattern in the high-latitude ionospheres of the Northern and Southern hemispheres. These observations demonstrate the complexity of the response of the ionosphere at all latitudes to heating of the auroral region.     

THE METHOD OF CONSTRUCTING IONOSPHERIC TEC BACKGROUND FIELD BASED ON SVR MODEL

There are many factors related to the variations of TEC, and the changes of TEC caused by earthquake only occupy a small portion. Therefore, it is vital how to exclude the ionospheric interference of non-seismic factors accurately in the process of seismic ionospheric anomaly extraction. This study constructed a TEC non-seismic dynamic background field considering the influence of solar and geomagnetic activities. Firstly, the TEC components of half-year cycle and annual cycle are extracted by wavelet decomposition. Then, it establishes a regression model between TEC in which periodic factors are removed and solar activity index, geomagnetic activity index with SVR method(support vector regression)in non-seismic period. Finally, based on the constructed model, the solar activity index and geomagnetic activity index is used to reconstruct aperiodic components of TEC in earthquake's period. From the reconstructed aperiodic components of TEC plus the half-year periodic components and annual periodic components of TEC in the same period, the non-seismic dynamic background field is obtained. Comparing the residuals relative to original TEC values in non-seismic dynamic background field and traditional sliding window background, there are apparent monthly periodic change and semi-annual periodic change in the residuals of sliding window background, which can have obvious impacts on the subsequent seismic ionospheric anomaly detection. In order to test the validity of seismic TEC anomaly detection based on the background field construction method, this paper investigated the long time series TEC anomalies near Wenchuan city(30°N, 100°E)from March 1 to September 26 in 2008. It is found that under the condition of non-seismic disturbance such as solar activity and geomagnetic activity, TEC abnormal disturbance is rarely detected by non-seismic dynamic background field method, when compared with the traditional sliding time-window method. And before the earthquake, more TEC anomalies were detected based on the proposed method, also, they were more intense than those extracted by sliding window method. Therefore, the TEC background field construction method based on SVR(support vector regression)has superiorities in both system errors elimination, which are caused by solar, geomagnetism, the non-seismic ionospheric disturbance events and periodic fluctuations of TEC, and in reducing the false alarm rate of seismic TEC anomaly. Moreover, it can also improve the seismic TEC anomaly detection ability. In addition, this paper analyzed the time-spatial distribution of TEC anomaly before three earthquakes on May 12, August 21 and August 30, 2008. They were mainly negative abnormal perturbations and often distributed on the equatorial side of epicenter.     

The structure of the mid- and high-latitude ionosphere during the November 2004 storm event obtained from GPS observations

GPS data from the International GNSS Service (IGS) network were used to study the development of the severe geomagnetic storm of November 7–12, 2004, in the total electron content (TEC) on a global scale. The TEC maps were produced for analyzing the storm. For producing the maps over European and North American sectors, GPS measurements from more than 100 stations were used. The dense network of GPS stations provided TEC measurements with a high temporal and spatial resolution. To present the temporal and spatial variation of TEC during the storm, differential TEC maps relative to a quiet day (November 6, 2004) were created. The features of geomagnetic storm attributed to the complex development of ionospheric storm depend on latitude, longitude and local time. The positive, as well as negative effects were detected in TEC variations as a consequence of the evolution of the geomagnetic storm. The maximal effect was registered in the subauroral/auroral ionosphere during substorm activity in the evening and night period. The latitudinal profiles obtained from TEC maps for Europe gave rise to the storm-time dynamic of the ionospheric trough, which was detected on November 7 and 9 at latitudes below 50°N. In the report, features of the response of TEC to the storm for European and North American sectors are analyzed.     

ZH-1卫星得到的中国及邻区顶部电离层背景特征

利用ZH-1(CSES)卫星LAP载荷原位电子密度数据对中国及邻区(0°-54°N,70°-140°E)的顶部电离层背景分布及随季节变化进行了详细分析,研究结果显示:(1)研究区赤道异常的纬度延伸范围、随经度分布形态及它们的季节变化,具有与其他研究结果一致的规律性.(2)中纬度区,白天电子密度存在一个低值带,夜间电子密...     

Ionospheric imaging of the northern crest of the Equatorial Anomaly

The dominant structure in free electron concentration in the tropical ionosphere is the Equatorial Anomaly, where the largest values of TEC are found. This structure follows the geomagnetic equator and extends some 40° in latitude. The edges of the structure (crests) are characterised by steep, latitudinal gradients in TEC, which are temporally as well as spatially variable.This phenomenology is traditionally explained in terms of the theory of “fountain effect”, which is shortly reviewed in this work before presenting our results.Here we study the northern crest of the Equatorial Anomaly using a program that can perform multi-instrument two- or three-dimensional time-evolving mathematical inversions. This program is designed to unify a number of different measurement techniques, thus allowing the spatial and temporal study of the ionospheric features at hand. The paper reports on experimental results from winter 2000/2001. This is a highly significant period to study the ionospheric anomalies because it is around the maximum of the 11-year solar cycle and TEC is at a maximum.     

Response of the ionosphere to the Baltic Sea earthquake of 21 September 2004

GPS observations of the European permanent network were used to identify seismo-ionospheric precursors of Baltic Sea earthquake of 21 September 2004. It is a very rare event for this region of Europe (magnitude of about 5.0). This value is the threshold for the occurrence of seismic effects in the ionosphere. In total electron content (TEC) data over the region of the earthquake, a specific ionospheric anomaly appeared one day before the earthquake was detected. The ionospheric variability had a positive sign with an enhancement of about 4–5 TECU (1 TECU = 10¹⁶ electrons/m²) relative to the non-disturbed state of the ionosphere. The anomaly had a duration of 4–5 hours in the day time. The special size of this anomaly was about 1000 km. The characteristic parameters of the anomaly show that it can be associated with ionospheric precursors of an earthquake.     

Investigation of ionospheric TEC changes related to the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake based on statistic analysis and signal detection

Ionospheric TEC (total electron content) time series are derived from GPS measurements at 13 stations around the epicenter of the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake. Defining anomaly bounds for a sliding window by quartile and 2-standard deviation of TEC values, this paper analyzed the characteristics of ionospheric changes before and after the destructive event. The Neyman-Pearson signal detection method is employed to compute the probabilities of TEC abnormalities. Result shows that one week before the Wenchuan earthquake, ionospheric TEC over the epicenter and its vicinities displays obvious abnormal disturbances, most of which are positive anomalies. The largest TEC abnormal changes appeared on May 9, three days prior to the seismic event. Signal detection shows that the largest possibility of TEC abnormity on May 9 is 50.74%, indicating that ionospheric abnormities three days before the main shock are likely related to the preparation process of the M_S8.0 Wenchuan earthquake.     

Decadal-scale variations of water mass properties in the deep Weddell Sea

Data from cruises between 1989 and 2003 with FS Polarstern were used to construct section-wide potential temperature and salinity time series of the main water masses in the Weddell Gyre. In tandem with these CTD data, two time series between 1989 and 1995 are presented from moored instruments in the central Weddell Sea. The regional and methodological consistency of the dataset allows us to quantify variations which are not visible in less homogeneous datasets. The data reveal significant temperature and salinity variations of the Warm Deep Water and the Weddell Sea Bottom Water on a decadal time scale. The longest time series were obtained at the prime meridian. Here warming is observed in the Warm Deep Water from 1992 to 1998 followed by cooling. In the Weddell Sea proper, measurements of instruments moored in the Weddell Sea Bottom Water layer recorded a temperature increase over 6 years at a rate of 0.01 °C a^–1. After the mooring period, CTD casts in 1998 point to a weakening of the trend. The warming trend in the bottom water occurs over most of the Weddell Sea, as detected in the additional CTD surveys. The variations are close to the detection level in the voluminous Weddell Sea Deep Water. The initial warming trend of the Warm Deep Water is consistent with warming trends reported in literature of subsurface waters of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. The reversal of the trend in the Weddell Sea seems to be related to variations of the atmospheric conditions which can affect both the intrusion of Circumpolar Deep Water from the north and the circulation of the Weddell Gyre. Because the Warm Deep Water is the major source water for the formation of deep and bottom water in the Weddell Sea, it is suggested that its increase in temperature and salinity is likely to at least partly cause the variations which were observed in the bottom water.Responsible Editor: Jörg-Olaf Wolff     

中国地区电离层TEC暴扰动研究

电离层总电子含量(TEC)是空间天气研究和监测预报的重要参量.本文引入了电离层TEC扰动指数DI, 对青岛等6个台站的DI数据进行分析,选取DI>0.35(DI≤-0.30)作为正(负)相电离层TEC扰动的强度标准,并以连续6 h及以上的DI满足该值来判定电离层TEC暴扰动事件.对电离层TEC暴扰动事件的统计分析表明,在地方时日落后至子夜前为发生高峰时段,正(负)相暴扰动事件平均持续时间约为10.9 h(10.5 h),正相暴发生率以冬季为多,夏季为少,而负相暴则以夏季略高.发现位于赤道异常驼峰区的广州站和位于高中纬度的海拉尔站比典型中纬地区的北京站电离层TEC暴扰动更易发生,且低纬地区以正相暴扰动为主.分析表明,约有70%的电离层TEC暴扰动伴随着有地磁扰动,但是电离层TEC暴扰动并不完全由地磁扰动所引起,强烈气象活动等局地环境因素也可能对电离层TEC暴扰动有着重要影响.     

国际GNSS服务组织全球电离层TEC格网精度评估与分析

国际GNSS服务组织(International GNSS Services,IGS)发布的全球电离层TEC格网(Global lonospheric Map,GIM)是利用GNSS进行电离层研究的主要数据源之一.IGS电离层工作组于2016年2月正式授予中国科学院为全球第五个电离层数据分析中心,由测量与地球物理研究所和光电研究院联合实施.本文系统地总结和展示了IGS电离层工作组对各分析中心GIM评估的结果;此次评估以基准站实测电离层TEC、测高卫星电离层TEC为参考,给出了各分析中心1998-2015年GIM的总体性能.结果显示:随着IGS基准站日益增多,各分析中心GIM内符合精度由4.5~7.0TECu提升至2.5-3.5TECu;不同分析中心GIM一致性从3.0~4.5TECu提升至2.0~3.5TECu;相对于测高卫星电离层数据,CODE、CAS、JPL和UPC分析中心的GIM精度相对较高(约4.0~4.5TECu),但是在不同测高卫星评估结果之间存在不同的系统性偏差.