Reflectionless acoustic gravity waves in the Earth’s atmosphere

The vertical wave propagation in an inhomogeneous compressible atmosphere is studied in the framework of a linear theory. Under specific conditions imposed on atmospheric parameters, solutions can be found in the form of travelling waves with variable amplitudes and wave numbers that do not reflect in the atmosphere in spite of its strong inhomogeneity. Model representations for the sound speed have been found, for which waves can propagate in the atmosphere without reflection. A wave energy flux retains these reflectionless profiles, which confirms that energy can be transferred to high altitudes. The number of these model representations is fairly large, which makes it possible to approximate real vertical distributions of the sound speed in the Earth??s atmosphere using piecewise reflectionless profiles. The Earth??s standard atmosphere is shown to be well approximated by four reflectionless profiles with weak jumps in the sound speed gradient. It has been established that the Earth??s standard atmosphere is almost completely transparent for the considered vertical acoustic waves in a wide range of frequencies, which is confirmed by observational data and conclusions derived using numerical solutions of original equations.     

The effect of wind on the gravity wave propagation in the Earth’s ionosphere

The effect of ionospheric wind on the gravity wave propagation is studied. These waves arise in the ionosphere due to intensification of their sources near the Earth’s surface during enhanced seismic activity. The influence of the wind on these waves is connected with the Ampere’s force that produces the ion-drag force acting on the atmosphere. This results in the occurrence of the discrete wave spectrum the maximum of which increases in proportion to the numbers of the natural scale. Furthermore, these waves are amplified during propagation from the source region in the direction perpendicular to the wind direction. These peculiarities of the gravity waves can be used for monitoring of seismic activity based on the ionosphere sounding.     

Formation of large-scale disturbances in the upper atmosphere caused by acoustic gravity wave sources on the Earth’s surface

The results of a model study of the acoustic gravity wave (AGW) propagation from the Earth’s surface to the upper atmospheric altitudes have been considered. Numerical calculations have been performed using a nonhydrostatic model of the atmosphere, which takes into account nonlinear and dissipative processes originating when waves propagate upward. The model source of atmospheric disturbances has been specified in an area localized on the Earth’s surface. The disturbance source frequency spectrum includes harmonics at frequencies of 0.5ωg-1.5ωg (ωg is the Brunt-Väisälä frequency near the Earth’s surface). The calculations indicated that AGW propagation and dissipation over the source result in the fact that the region of large-scale spatial disturbances of the upper atmosphere mean state is formed at ～200 km altitudes. This region substantially affects AGW propagation and results in waveguide propagation of AGWs with periods shorter than the Väisälä-Brunt period at the altitude of a disturbed atmosphere. The dissipation of AGWs propagating in such a waveguide results in a waveguide horizontal expansion. The extension of the disturbed region of the mean state of the upper atmosphere and, consequently, the waveguide length can reach ～1000 km, if the AGW ground source operates for ～1 h. The physical mechanism by which large-scale disturbances are formed in the upper atmosphere, based on the propagation and dissipation of AGWs with periods shorter than the Väisälä-Brunt period in the upper atmosphere, explains why these disturbances are rapidly generated and localized above AGW sources located on the Earth’s surface or in the lower atmosphere.     

The December 26, 2004, off the west coast of northern Sumatra, Indonesia, M_W=9.0, earthquake and the critical-point-like model of earthquake preparation

Introduction The unexpected December 26, 2004, off the west coast of northern Sumatra, Indonesia, MW=9.0 earthquake, which caused devastating tsunami around the Indian Ocean, reminds seis-mologists of the difficulty of earthquake forecast and/or prediction. For seismologists this earth-quake is almost completely unexpected, because there was neither forecasting (which means the estimation of the future earthquake rate as a function of location, time, and magnitude) nor predic-tion (forecasti…     

Comparative study of temporal variations in the earth’s gravity field using GRACE gravity models in the regions of three recent giant earthquakes

Comparative analysis of coseismic and postseismic variations of the Earth’s gravity field is carried for the regions of three giant earthquakes (Andaman-Sumatra, December 26, 2004, magnitude M _w = 9.1; Maule-Chile, February 27, 2010, M _w = 8.8, and Tohoku-Oki, March 11, 2011, M _w = 9.0) with the use of GRACE satellite data. Within the resolution of GRACE models, the coseismic changes of gravity caused by these seismic events manifest themselves by large negative anomalies located in the rear of the subduction zone. The real data are compared with the synthetic anomalies calculated from the rupture surface models based on different kinds of ground measurements. It is shown that the difference between the gravity anomalies corresponding to different rupture surface models exceeds the uncertainties of the GRACE data. There-fore, the coseismic gravity anomalies are at least suitable for rejecting part of the models that are equivalent in the ground data. Within the first few months after the Andaman-Sumatra earthquake, a positive gravity anomaly started to grow above the deep trench. This anomaly rapidly captured the area of the back-arc basin and largely compensated the negative coseismic anomaly. The processes of viscoelastic stress relaxation do not fully allow for these rapid changes of gravity. According to the calculations, even with a sufficiently low viscosity of the upper mantle, relaxation only covers about a half of the observed change of the field. In order to explain the remaining temporal variations, we suggested the process of downdip propagation of the coseismic rupture surface. The feasibility of such a process was supported by numerical simulations. The sum of the gravity anomalies caused by this process and the anomaly generated by the processes of viscoelastic relaxation accounts well for the observed changes of the gravity field in the region of the earthquake. The similar postseismic changes of gravity were also detected for the region of the Tohoku-Oki earthquake. Just as in the case discussed above, this earthquake was also followed by a rapid growth of a positive postseismic anomaly, which partially counterbalanced the negative coseismic anomaly. The time variations of the gravity field in the region of the Maule-Chile earthquake differ from the pattern of changes observed in the island arcs described above. The postseismic gravity variations are in this case concentrated in a narrower band above the deep trench and shelf, and they do not spread over the continental territory, where the negative coseismic anomaly is located. These discrepancies reflect the difference in the geodynamical settings of the studied earthquakes.     

Ionization of the earth’s atmosphere by solar and galactic cosmic rays

A brief review of the research of atmospheric effects of cosmic rays is presented. Numerical models are discussed, that are capable to compute the cosmic ray induced ionization at a given location and time. Intercomparison of the models, as well as comparison with fragmentary direct measurements of the atmospheric ionization, validates their applicability for the entire atmosphere and the whole range of the solar activity level variations. The effect of sporadic solar energetic particle events is shown to be limited on the global scale, even for the most severe event, but can be very strong locally in polar regions, affecting the physical-chemical properties of the upper atmosphere, especially at high altitudes. Thus, a new methodology is presented to study cosmic ray induced ionization of the atmosphere in full detail using realistic numerical models calibrated to direct observations.     

Influence of solar activity on variations in the density of the Earth’s upper atmosphere

This article studies long-period variations in the Earth’s upper atmosphere density over several solar activity cycles, using long-term data on the evolution of motion of three artificial satellites (Intercosmos-19, Meteor-1-2, and Cosmos-1154) in orbits at heights of 400–1000 km. The time interval when the satellites were in the orbits covered three solar activity cycles (partly the 21st, completely the 22nd, and partly the 23rd). It is found that the variations in the average density of the upper atmosphere at heights of 400–600 km in the 1980–2000 period were governed by the changes in the solar activity level.     

Ranges of AGW propagation in the Earth’s atmosphere

The propagation of atmospheric gravity waves (AGWs) is studied in the context of geometrical optics in the nonisothermal, viscous, and thermal-conductive atmosphere of Earth in the presence of wind shifts. Parametric diagrams are plotted, determining the regions of allowed frequencies and horizontal phase velocities of AGWs depending on the altitude. It is shown that a part of the spectrum of AGWs propagates in stationary air in an altitude range from the Earth’s surface through the ionospheric F1 layer. AGW from nearearth sources attenuate below 250 km, while waves generated at altitudes of about 300 km and higher do not reach the Earth’s surface because of the inner reflection from the thermosphere base. The pattern changes under strong thermospheric winds. AGW dissipation decreases with an adverse wind shift and, hence, a part of the wave spectrum penetrated from the lower atmosphere to the altitudes of F2 layer.     

Model of muon generation in the Earth’s atmosphere

The muon fluxes on the Earth’s surface and at depths of 7, 20, and 40 m of water equivalent are calculated based on a simple model of pion generation by primary particles with different energies. This generation model is based on the known concepts of multiple pion production. The model parameters are compared with the data obtained using accelerating machines.     

Impact of space energetic particles on the Earth’s atmosphere (a review)

The state of the Earth??s upper atmosphere is formed with the participation of impacts by energetic particles, such as galactic cosmic rays, protons of solar proton events, and precipitation of relativistic electrons. Changes in the neutral composition and the thermal and dynamical regime of the upper atmosphere during periods of disturbances caused by the influence of energetic particles are considered.     

Analysis of gravity waves in the tropical middle atmosphere over La Reunion Island (21°S, 55°E) with lidar using wavelet techniques

The capabilities of the continuous wavelet transform (CWT) and the multiresolution analysis (MRA) are presented in this work to measure vertical gravity wave characteristics. Wave properties are extracted from the first data set of Rayleigh lidar obtained between heights of 30 km and 60 km over La Reunion Island (21°S, 55°E) during the Austral winter in 1994 under subtropical conditions. The altitude-wavelength representations deduced from these methods provide information on the time and spatial evolution of the wave parameters of the observed dominant modes in vertical profiles such as the vertical wavelengths, the vertical phase speeds, the amplitudes of temperature perturbations and the distribution of wave energy. The spectra derived from measurements show the presence of localized quasi-monochromatic structures with vertical wavelengths <10 km. Three methods based on the wavelet techniques show evidence of a downward phase progression. A first climatology of the dominant modes observed during the Austral winter period reveals a dominant night activity of 2 or 3 quasi-monochromatic structures with vertical wavelengths between 1/2 km from the stratopause, 3/4 km and 6/10 km observed between heights of 30 km and 60 km. In addition, it reveals a dominant activity of modes with a vertical phase speed of –0.3 m/s and observed periods peaking at 3/4 h and 9 h. The characteristics of averaged vertical wavelengths appear to be similar to those observed during winter in the southern equatorial region and in the Northern Hemisphere at mid-latitudes.     

The change of the earth’s dimensions determined from paleogeographical data

Summary It is shown that paleogeographical data give evidence for the increase of the Earth’s radius. The average annual increase computed is 0.5 mm/year. The formation of the continents and ocean basins may be easily explained on the basis of the Earth’s expansion. The rate of the annual radius increase derived from this explanation is in good agreement with the value determined from paleogeographical data. The theoretically computed duration of a transgression-regression period corresponds also with geological observations. Prof. Dr. L. Egyed, Geophysical Institute, E?tv?s-University,Budapest (Hungary).     

Comparison of the sector and conventional spherical harmonic analyses of the solar magnetic field on the photosphere,source surface,and in the Earth’s orbit on July 10–20, 2004

The results of a spherical harmonic analysis and a sector spherical harmonic analysis of the solar magnetic field on the photosphere, source surface, and in the Earth’s orbit on July 10–20, 2004, were compared. It was found that the field values according to a sector harmonic analysis are an order of magnitude as large as the same values according to a spherical harmonic analysis and differ in the configuration. A twocomponent magnetic field structure was revealed: short-range sources are better described by a sector spherical harmonic analysis; long-range sources are better described by a spherical harmonic analysis. This is caused by the different depths of the occurrence of sources below the photosphere.     

Electric circuits and their generators in the earth’s magnetosphere: The concept of electric circuits as applied to the first phase of the April 6, 2000, superstorm

{1} The first phase of the superstorm on April 6, 2000 was studied based on the analogy between systems of magnetospheric currents and wire electric currents. The conventional dataset supplemented with maps of ionospheric equivalent currents (ECs) and field-aligned currents (FACs) was also used. The application of this analogy made it possible to introduce spatial R.N inhomogeneities into FAC distributions in the two-dimensional ionosphere and three types of meridional current systems, MCS-0, MCS-1, and MCS-2, providing electric coupling of three Iijima and Potemra FAC Regions. This basis was used to describe the formation and observed dynamics of ionospheric auroral electrojets and three-dimensional current systems in a disturbed magnetosphere-ionosphere system. The results the modify known paradigms of the substorm current wedge (SCW). A new important fact was noted: simultaneously with the beginning of the disturbance expansion phase due to the stepwise growth in the dynamic pressure of the solar wind (SW), the stepwise growth in the area of polar cap and in the electromagnetic energy flux coming to the magnetosphere from the SW were observed.     

Variations in the quasi-static electric field in the near-Earth’s atmosphere during geomagnetic storms in November 2004

The effects of the geomagnetic storms of November 8 and 10, 2004, in variations in the strength and power spectra of the electric field in the near-Earth’s atmosphere in Kamchatka were studied, together with the meteorological and geophysical phenomena observed simultaneously. A sequence of strong solar flares was shown to cause an anomalous increase in air temperature and humidity. This resulted in the excitation of anomalously strong thunderstorm processes in the atmosphere during the storm of November 8 and made it impossible to distinguish the effects associated with cosmic rays on this background. During the storm of November 10, on the background of weak variations in meteorological parameters, an increase in the strength and intensity of power spectra of the electric field on the day before the storm of November 10 was detected; it was followed by an attenuation of these parameters on the date of the storm. These effects were supposed to be associated with the action of cosmic rays on currents of the global electric circuit. It was shown that the influence of the Forbush effect of galactic cosmic rays in the power spectrum of the electric field first of all shows as the amplification of the component with the period T ～ 48 h; in variations in humidity, the effect shows as the amplification of the component with T ～ 24 h. Cause-and-effect relationships between variations in the electric field strength and the horizontal component of the geomagnetic field were shown to be absent both under the conditions of “fair weather” and during the storm of November 10. A diurnal negative-difference atmospheric pressure was detected on the second day after the geomagnetic storms of November 8 and 10.     

Interdependent perturbations of the Earth’s surface, atmosphere, and ionosphere

The results of original experiments performed with a ground-based geophysical laser interferometer and a GPS-based satellite ionospheric profilometer are given. Synchronous growth was recorded for deformations of the Earth’s surface and variations in the atmospheric pressure and in the level of spatiotemporal modifications of the electron content within the ionospheric F2 layer with characteristic space scales of 10²–10³ km and periods of 10²–10³ s. The relationship between the revealed phenomena and the Earth’s seismic activity is analyzed.     

New approach to the construction of the Earth’s upper atmosphere model using the satellite local data on the atmosphere

The present-day models of the Earth’s upper atmosphere make it possible to construct the spatial-temporal pattern of variations in the atmospheric parameters on the planetary scale in essence in the averaged form. The set of data on the satellite deceleration in the atmosphere, probe measurements aboard geophysical rockets, and radiowave incoherent scatter measurements in the Earth’s atmosphere are used to construct these standard models. The current level of the space studies makes it possible to use a new method to study the Earth’s upper atmosphere: to study the upper atmosphere by measuring the absorption of the solar XUV radiation by the Earth’s atmosphere during the solar disk observations.     

Seismogravitational oscillations and a change in the Earth’s rotation rate in a period range from 1 to 5 h in December 2004

The observations carried out using a seismogravimeter in St. Petersburg simultaneously with the variations of the Earth’s rotation rate determined based on the results of observations with radiotelescopes located at large distances from each other at the surface of the Earth are compared with each other. It is found that the simultaneous observations agree with each other in the daily variation dynamics. It is also found that the distribution of spectral components along the frequency axis in the spectra of these observations in a period range from 1 to 5 h corresponds to a long-known distribution of frequencies at which the Earth’s oscillations arise most often. It is also shown that the spectra in a period range from 1 to 5 h obtained in different years using the astronomical data, the superconducting gravimeter observations, and the seismogravimeter observations at points located at large distances from each other agree with each other very well. Individual oscillation components have comparable amplitudes and may not be of a tidal nature. An explanation that allows one to examine the entire body of obtained results from a unified perspective is proposed.     

Several effects of a baroclinic current on the cross‐stream propagation of inertial‐internal waves†

Several effects of a baroclinic current on inertial‐internal waves at constant frequency are investigated, primarily through use of the method of characteristics. The special case of waves propagating transverse to a baroclinic current is considered. When the slope of an isopycnal is of the same order of magnitude as the slope of the characteristics, appreciable asymmetries are induced in the characteristics, the phase and group velocities, and the solution itself. These asymmetric effects are especially significant for waves at the low frequency end of the passband for free waves. Also, modifications occur to the passband, resulting in anomalously high and low frequency bands. The effective local inertial frequency, σ_f = [f(f+v_x )]^1/2, separates the normal and anomalously low frequency bands. Hence, the low frequency limit of the normal frequency band increases or decreases depending upon whether the horizontal shear in the mean flow is cyclonic or anticyclonic. In the anomalous frequency bands, the slopes of both characteristics have the same sign, causing various refraction and reflection phenomena. If the absolute value of the slope, s, of an isopycnal exceeds its critical value, s_c = effective local inertial frequency/Väisälä‐Brunt frequency, the anomalously low frequency band extends to imaginary frequencies. If s ? 0, the reflection of waves from a boundary is modified, the effective wavelength is increased, and the lines of constant phase are tilted from the vertical. For the general solution, discontinuities in the first‐order partial derivatives of the velocity field occur across certain characteristics. The nonseparable normal modes do not exhibit these discontinuous derivatives, but they only satisfy one of the two pairs of kinematic boundary conditions in rectangular regions.