Diffusion spreading of middle-latitude ionospheric plasma irregularities

In contrast to the way that the spreading of irregularities in a plasma is usually considered, the diffusion spreading of irregularities stretched along the geomagnetic field B is examined using a three-dimensional rigorous numerical model of quasi-neutral diffusion in the presence of a magnetic field, in conjunction with the actual height variations of the diffusion and conductivity tensors in the ionosphere. A comparison with the earlier constructed approximate model of unipolar diffusion was made. As in the previous case, the same peculiarities of irregularity spreading in the inhomogeneous background ionospheric plasma were observed. The accuracy of the approximate model for describing the process of spreading of anisotropic ionospheric irregularities is established. Time relaxation effects of real heating-induced ionospheric irregularities on their scale transverse to B are presented using the approximate analytical model for the case of a quasi-homogeneous ionospheric plasma. The calculated results have a vivid physical meaning and can be directly compared with experimental data on the radiophysical observations of artificial heating-induced irregularities created by powerful radio waves in the ionosphere.     

Electrodynamics of plasma irregularities in the experiments with artificial clouds and jets in the ionosphere

Electric fields in the near-Earth space was studied in the experiments with artificial plasma clouds and jets in the ionosphere and magnetosphere. The development of a nonmonotonous plasma density stratification of an artificial plasma formation, with the scale of strata across the geomagnetic field reaching several meters and tens of meters, was observed. It has been indicated that the electrodynamics of plasma clouds and jets, decomposing into strata, depends on the excitation and decay of fast oscillations of the electronic plasma component against a background of slow oscillations of the ionic component at frequencies of magnetized plasma electrostatic oscillations (electrostatic Bernstein modes of the plasma electronic and ionic components and ion acoustic oscillations).     

Wave propagation through ionospheric plasma in presence of time-varying random irregularities

Summary The dielectric tensor of a time-varying anisotropic electron-plasma has been studied with the consideration of the effect of collision. The tripple splitting of the electromagnetic waves is obtained from the dispersion relation which gives the two usual magnetoionic modes in the limiting case. The randomness of electron number density has been evaluated by the help of field variables and also by the nature of fluctuation of dielectric tensor.     

Radar backscatter from plasma irregularities of the lower E region induced by neutral turbulence

Recently, one of the authors (A. V. G.) developed a theory of low-frequency plasma irregularities which are created as a consequence of neutral turbulence in the D and lower E regions. In the following this theory will be applied to coherent backscatter experiments with radars in a frequency range between 5 and 150 MHz. We discuss the dependence of the backscatter cross-section on ionospheric as well as on turbulence parameters. The backscatter increases strongly with decreasing radar frequency. Above 15 MHz the effects discussed here can probably only be detected by very powerful radars with large antenna arrays.     

Temporal behaviour of artificial small-scale ionospheric irregularities: Review of experimental results

Features of artificial small-scale ionospheric irregularities (ASI) induced at F-region heights by powerful HF waves are discussed. The investigations presented here were performed during the past two decades at the Zimenki and Sura heating facilities, located at middle latitudes near Nizhniy Novgorod, Russia, as well as at the Gissar facility located at a lower latitude near Dushanbe, Tadzhikistan. The measurements were made by a variety of diagnostic methods employing artificial field-aligned scattering of HF and VHF radio waves, sounding of the disturbed region by means of low-power probing waves and testing of the artificial turbulence by means of stimulated electromagnetic emission (SEE). The dependence of ASI on such parameters as transverse scale length of the artificial irregularities, their location in the disturbed region, the power of the heating wave, the duration of HF radiation, geophysical conditions, aftereffects of the preceding modification, and the schedule of heater operation is considered for both the development stage after pump turn-on and the decay stage after pump turn-off. The temporal evolution of ASI spectral characteristics during the heater period is discussed. An empirical model for the ASI, based on the data available, was elaborated and verified by computer simulation of SEE generation.     

Study of sporadic-E clouds by backscatter radar

It is shown that swept-frequency backscatter ionograms covering a range of azimuths can be used to study the dynamics of sporadic-E clouds. A simple technique based on analytic ray tracing can be used to simulate the observed narrow traces associated with E_s patches. This enables the location and extent of the sporadic-E clouds to be determined. The motion of clouds can then be determined from a time sequence of records. In order to demonstrate the method, results are presented from an initial study of 5 days of backscatter ionograms from the Jindalee Stage B data base obtained during March-April 1990. Usually 2–3 clouds were observed each day, mainly during the evening and up to midnight. The clouds lasted from 1–4 h and extended between 30°–80° in azimuth and 150–800 km in range. The clouds were mostly stationary or drifted generally westward with velocities of up to 80 ms^–1. Only one cloud was observed moving eastward.     

First incoherent scatter radar observations of ionospheric heating on the second electron gyro-harmonic

We report first results from a unique experiment performed at the HIPAS ionospheric modification facility in conjunction with the Poker Flat incoherent scatter radar in Alaska. High-power radio waves at 2.85 MHz, which corresponds to the second electron gyro-harmonic at ~245 km altitude, were transmitted into the nighttime ionosphere. Clear evidence of F-region ionospheric electron temperature enhancements were found, for the first time at this pump frequency, maximizing when the pump frequency is close to the second gyro-harmonic and double resonance. This is consistent with previous pump-enhanced artificial optical observations. We estimate the plasma heating efficiency to be approximately double that for higher pump frequencies.     

Seasonal and solar cycle association of zonal drifts of ionospheric plasma irregularities in the Indian equatorial region

Long series of simultaneous VHF scintillation observations at two stations situated in near magnetic east-west direction in the vicinity of the dip equator in the Indian region have been employed to investigate the night-time ionospheric plasma zonal drifts. The drifts are found to be predominantly easterly. On comparing the magnitudes of the drifts with those results derived earlier by HF fading technique, monitoring signals from two satellites at a station and spaced receiver experiment, their associations with the season and the degree of solar activity are discussed. On a broader scale, the annual mean sunspot number is shown to have a direct control on the derived drift, the positive relationship even on day to day basis with the solar flux is established. However, the relationship, as understood by the slope of the best fit line, in the Indian region (0.27) is found to be weaker when compared with the similar slope (0.45) in the American sector. There appears to be no geomagnetic activity control on the estimated drifts.     

Effect of ionospheric irregularities on accuracy of dual-frequency GPS systems

The residual error of the ionospheric correction of signals from dual frequency GPS systems, related to a ray deviation in random ionospheric irregularities, is studied. The formulas taking into account ray deviation from a straight line in an inhomogeneous ionosphere have been obtained based on the disturbance theory when solving the ray equations. These formulas have been used to estimate the extreme accuracy of a dual frequency GPS method. The algorithm for correcting this ionospheric error of the second order using three-frequency reception has been proposed.     

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250~400 km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.     

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.     

Optical effects in the aurora caused by ionospheric HF heating

Ionospheric heating experiments were done by the EISCAT Heater in Tromsø on 15–19 November, 1993. A low-light TV camera was installed at the VLF receiving station at Porojärvi about 100 km to the south-east of Tromsø. The spectral analysis of the auroral luminosity variations showed that the brightness of the aurora varied at the modulation frequency of the heating wave. The results of this analysis and the numerical simulations of the auroral luminosity variations caused by the HF heating are shown. The variations of the optical emission intensity at the heating frequency occur during the auroral ionosphere modification. The observed intensity variation of the auroral green line during the interval of enhanced electron temperature is explained by a decreasing rate of the O₂⁺ ion dissociative recombination when the electron temperature increases. The brightness variation depends on the characteristic energy and the intensity of the auroral electron flux and the heating wave parameters. The artificial luminosity pulsations caused by HF heating are estimated.     

Investigation of the relationship between optical auroral forms and HF radar E region backscatter

The SuperDARN HF radars have been employed in the past to investigate the spectral characteristics of coherent backscatter from L-shell aligned features in the auroral E region. The present study employs all-sky camera observations of the aurora from Husafell, Iceland, and the two SuperDARN radars located on Iceland, Þykkvibær and Stokkseyri, to determine the optical signature of such backscatter features. It is shown that, especially during quiet geomagnetic conditions, the backscatter region is closely associated with east-west aligned diffuse auroral features, and that the two move in tandem with each other. This association between optical and radar aurora has repercussions for the instability mechanisms responsible for generating the E region irregularities from which radars scatter. This is discussed and compared with previous studies investigating the relationship between optical and VHF radar aurora. In addition, although it is known that E region backscatter is commonly observed by SuperDARN radars, the present study demonstrates for the first time that multiple radars can observe the same feature to extend over at least 3 h of magnetic local time, allowing precipitation features to be mapped over large portions of the auroral zone.     

Determining dynamic parameters of different-scale ionospheric irregularities over northern Siberia

In 1995–1996, observations were carried out at Norilsk (geomagnetic latitude and longitude 64.2°N and 160.4°E) to determine dynamic parameters of irregularities in the high-latitude ionosphere. The short-baseline spaced-receiver method that has been implemented at the ionospheric facility of the Norilsk Integrated Magnetic–Ionospheric Station, provides a means of simultaneously measuring parameters of small-scale irregularities (spatial scale of 3–5 km) by the Similar-Fading Method (SFM), as well as of medium-scale irregularities (time scale of 10–30 min, spatial scale of hundreds of kilometres) by the Statistical Angle-of-arrival and Doppler Method (SADM). About 20 h of the observational data for the F2-layer under quiet geomagnetic conditions (K_p < 3), 20 h under disturbed conditions (K_p ≥ 3) and about 15 h for the sporadic E-layer (K_p ≈ 3) were processed. It has been found that the propagation directions and velocities of different-scale irregularities do not coincide. Small-scale irregularities of the F2-layer travel predominantly eastward or westward. The velocity of the F2-layer irregularities is about 100 m/s, and under disturbed conditions it is up to 200–250 m/s. Small-scale irregularities of the sporadic E-layer travel mostly in the northward direction. It is confirmed that the E_s-layer is characterised by high velocities of the irregularities (as high as 1000 m/s). Medium-scale irregularities with periods in the range of 10–30 min travel mostly in a southward direction with velocities of 20–40 m/s.     

Spatial structure of auroral day-time ionospheric electron density irregularities generated by a powerful HF-wave

We describe an experiment in satellite radio-wave probing of the ionosphere, modified by powerful waves from the HF heating facility at Tromsø (Norway) in May 1995. Amplitude scintillations and variations of the phase of VHF signals from Russian navigational satellites passing over the heated region were observed. We show that both large-scale electron density irregularities (several tens of kilometers in size) and small-scale ones (from hundreds of meters to kilometers) can be generated by the HF radiation. Maximum effects caused by small-scale irregularities detected in the satellite signals are observed in the directions sector approximately parallel to the geomagnetic field lines although large-scale structures can be detected within a much larger area. The properties of small-scale irregularities (electron density fluctuations) are investigated by applying a statistical analysis and by studying experimental and model mean values of the logarithm of the relative amplitude of the signal. The results indicate that satellite radio probing can be a supporting diagnostic technique for ionospheric heating and add valuable information to studies of effects produced by HF modification.     

Zonal drifts of ionospheric irregularities at temperate latitude in the Indian region

The systematic time differences observed in the onset of postsunset VHF scintillations recorded simultaneously at Ujjain (Geogr. lat. 23.2^○N, Geogr. long. 75.6^○E) and Bhopal (Geogr. lat. 23.2^○N, Geogr. long. 77.6^○E), situated at the peak of the anomaly crest in the Indian region, have been analysed to determine the zonal drifts of scintillation-producing irregularities. The method is based on the assumption that the horizontal movement of irregularities does not change while crossing the F-region cross-over points of these stations. The calculated velocities of irregularities indicate an eastward drift decreasing from about 180 m s⁻¹ to 55 m s⁻¹ during the course of night. In the premidnight period, the drifts are reduced under the magnetically disturbed conditions. The average east-west extension of irregularites is found to be in the range of 200–500 km.     

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630 nm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.     

利用高频天波返回散射反演电离层水平不均匀结构

高频天波返回散射探测作为重要的电离层探测手段,能够实现遥远区域电离层空间上的连续监测,探测获取的返回散射扫频电离图显示了探测频率-群路径-回波能量三者之间的关系.由于电离图包含了探测路径上的电离层状态信息,通过对其反演可以实时获取大面积范围的电离层参数.本文提出了一种基于解空间约束的返回散射前沿反演算法,能够重构电离层水平不均匀结构.针对反演非线性问题,采用Newton-Kontorovich方法进行求解,同时又引入了求解不适定问题的Tikhonov正则化方法,有益于解的稳定性和唯一性.利用模拟数据和实测数据分别对本文建立的算法进行了验证,并与Fridman和Fridman于1994年提出的反演方法进行了对比.结果表明,本文算法反演结果稳定,对返回散射前沿判读误差不敏感,与Fridman和Fridman 1994年方法相比,本文方法对电离层局部精细结构反演更加准确,具有较高的反演精度.本文提出的算法不但能够反演白天和夜间这种电离层较平稳时期的电离层状态,而且对于日出/日落时段等电子浓度分布变化较快情形下的电离层,也有很好的反演效果,表明了该算法在处理复杂多变的实际探测的返回散射电离图中的应用价值.     

Numerical simulation of the mutual conversion of ordinary and extraordinary waves in a magnetised plasma by artificial ionospheric turbulence

Some effects of normal mode coupling in weakly anisotropic inhomogeneous plasma are analysed on the basis of the numerical solution of transfer equations for the Stokes parameters. The numerical analysis of normal mode conversion on a set of isolated irregularities demonstrates the possibility of an effective polarisation transformation on such structures. It is shown that by the appropriate selection of discrete irregularities of the external magnetic field direction or plasma electron concentration resulting in radio-wave refraction, one can control electromagnetic radiation polarisation characteristics. Analytical expressions for mean Stokes parameters have been obtained for the rare isolated irregularities. The opportunity for the simulation of mutual wave conversion processes in the ionospheric heating experiments is discussed.     

Simultaneous observations at different altitudes of ionospheric backscatter in the eastward electrojet

A common feature of evening near-range ionospheric backscatter in the CUTLASS Iceland radar field of view is two parallel, approximately L-shell-aligned regions of westward flow which are attributed to irregularities in the auroral eastward electrojet region of the ionosphere. These backscatter channels are separated by approximately 100–200 km in range. The orientation of the CUTLASS Iceland radar beams and the zonally aligned nature of the flow allows an approximate determination of flow angle to be made without the necessity of bistatic measurements. The two flow channels have different azimuthal variations in flow velocity and spectral width. The nearer of the two regions has two distinct spectral signatures. The eastern beams detect spectra with velocities which saturate at or near the ion-acoustic speed, and have low spectral widths (less than 100ms^–1), while the western beams detect lower velocities and higher spectral widths (above 200ms^–1). The more distant of the two channels has only one spectral signature with velocities above the ionacoustic speed and high spectral widths. The spectral characteristics of the backscatter are consistent with E-region scatter in the nearer channel and upper-E-region or F-region scatter in the further channel. Temporal variations in the characteristics of both channels support current theories of E-region turbulent heating and previous observations of velocity-dependent backscatter cross-section. In future, observations of this nature will provide a powerful tool for the investigation of simultaneous E- and F-region irregularity generation under similar (nearly co-located or magnetically conjugate) electric field conditions.