Preface to the Special Issue on Thunderstorm Effects in the Atmosphere–Ionosphere System

The first summer school of the “Thunderstorm Effects in the Atmosphere–Ionosphere System” (TEA–IS) funded by the European Science Foundation through its Research Network Programme took place in Torremolinos (Spain) on June 17–22, 2012. The meeting gathered almost 100 scientists with different backgrounds (plasma physics, electrical and signal engineering, geophysics, space physics and computational science) coming from 20 countries, both from inside and outside TEA–IS member countries. We very briefly comment here on the five review papers included in this Special Issue of Surveys in Geophysics devoted to the 2012 TEA–IS summer school.     

Influence of Total Solar Irradiance on the Earth’s Climate

Geomagnetism and Aeronomy - The results of analysis of variations in the total solar irradiance in the 17–24th solar activity cycles and their relation to the climate global warming are...     

The Effects of Solar Eclipse of August 1, 2008 on Earth’s Atmospheric Parameters

Several experiments were undertaken at Kolkata (latitude: 22°34′N, longitude: 88°30′E) on the solar eclipse day of August 1, 2008 to observe the effects of the solar eclipse on Fair Weather Field (FWF) and VLF amplitude and phase. The experimental results presented here show significant deviations of the observed parameters from their normal values, as they are determined by the average of the records obtained on 5 days adjacent to the day of the solar eclipse.     

Manifestation of the Lunar–Solar Tide and Free Oscillations of the Earth in the Variations of the Magnetic Field

The results of processing and analyzing the instrumental observations of the Earth’s magnetic field at the Geophysical Observatory Mikhnevo of the Institute of Geosphere Dynamics of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IGD RAS) for 2010–2015 are presented. Quasi-harmonic components with the periods close to the lunar–solar tidal waves are revealed in the spectra of geomagnetic variations over a period of 0.4 to 30 days. The elliptical S₁ tidal wave which is detected in the geomagnetic variations has modulations with periods of 1/3, 1/2, and 1 year. The spectra of the geomagnetic variations contain peaks corresponding to the free oscillations of the Earth. The analysis of the time series of the magnetic field for the period of the strong earthquakes in the absence of geomagnetic disturbances revealed the fine structure of the Earth’s fundamental spheroidal mode ₀S₂, which splits into five singlets. The established features of the spectrum of geomagnetic variations are helping the development of the new method for studying the deep structure of the Earth and the properties of the inner geospheres for estimating the viscosity of the Earth’s outer core and dynamics of the current systems in the outer (liquid) core, as well as for exploring, with the use of empirical data, the general regularities governing the regimes of energy exchange processes in the geospheres.     

Reconstruction of the Solar Activity in 1000–1700 Based on Auroral Data with Allowance for the Contribution of the Main Magnetic Field of the Earth

Geomagnetism and Aeronomy - A new reconstruction of the number of sunspots (SN) in 1000–1700, along with possible errors, has been obtained based on an analysis of auroral observations at...     

The Effects of the Earth’s Curvature on Gravity and Geoid Calculations

While it is obvious that large-scale gravity studies should account for the sphericity of the Earth, each case should be examined. If a geometry model is very large for the 3D-gravity calculation, it cannot be correctly defined in Cartesian coordinates. Because of the Earth’s curvature it is necessary to use spherical coordinates, the importance of which is shown in this paper. The calculation of the gravity for a cylinder reveals, 1 m above the center of the cylinder, a relative difference of 13% between the models with Cartesian and spherical coordinates.     

Solar Radiation Change and Climatic Effects on Decennial–Centennial Scales

Geomagnetism and Aeronomy - The causes of climatic effects associated with a change in orbital parameters at decennial–centennial scales are still being debated in the scientific community....     

Features of the Solar Wind Plasma Flow around the Earth’s Magnetosphere

Geomagnetism and Aeronomy - The change in the properties of the solar wind flow as it crosses the bow shock wave front and moves in the Earth’s magnetosheath are discussed. Solar wind data...     

Features of the Earth’s Solar Climate Changes in the Present Epoch

Geomagnetism and Aeronomy - Calculated insolations of the Earth are analyzed. The main trends in the modern solar climate change are identified: increased latitudinal contrast and smoothed seasonal...     

Bursts of Auroral-Hiss VLF Emissions on the Earth’s Surface at L ~ 5.5 and Geomagnetic Disturbances

Geomagnetism and Aeronomy - We have studied the geomagnetic conditions during the occurrence of auroral-hiss VLF emissions on the Earth’s surface in the form of noise bursts at frequencies...     

Effects of soil cracking on the seismic response of soil–structure systems

A numerical study on the influence that cracks and discontinuities (closed cracks) can have on the seismic response of a hypothetical soil–structure system is presented and discussed. A 2-D finite-difference model of the soil was developed, considering a bilinear failure surface using a Mohr–Coulomb model. The cracks are simulated with interface elements. The soil stiffness is used to characterize the contact force that is generated when the crack closes. For the cases studied herein, it was considered that the crack does not propagate during the dynamic event. Both cases, open and closed cracks, are considered. The nonlinear behavior was accounted for approximately using equivalent linear properties calibrated against several 1-D wave propagation analyses of selected soil columns with variable depth to account for changes in depth to bed rock. Free field boundaries were used at the edges of the 2-D finite-difference model to allow for energy dissipation of the reflected waves. The effect of cracking on the seismic response was evaluated by comparing the results of site response analysis with and without crack, for several lengths and orientations. The changes in the response obtained for a single crack and a family of cracks were also evaluated. Finally, the impact that a crack may have on the structural response of nearby structures was investigated by solving the seismic-soil–structure interaction of two structures, one flexible and one rigid to bracket the response. From the results of this investigation, insight was gained regarding the effect that discontinuities may have both on the seismic response of soil deposits and on nearby soil–structure systems.     

Observations of Alfvén Ionospheric Resonances on the Earth's Surface

The paper briefly reviews the preliminary results of observations of Alfvén ionospheric resonances performed in the northern Carpathian Mountains (south-eastern Poland) by the Cracow Schumann Resonances Group. The results confirm the simple models proposed recently by Lysak and Sentman.     

Dynamics of Ionospheric Alfvén Resonances from the End of Cycle 21 through Cycle 24 of Solar Activity

Geomagnetism and Aeronomy - The results of the study of the dynamics of ionospheric Alfvén resonances (IARs) in a range of 0–10 Hz based on data from magnetic field observations at the...     

Latitude-Longitude Characteristics of the North–South Asymmetry of Solar Activity

Geomagnetism and Aeronomy - The characteristics of the latitude-longitude distribution of the north–south (NS) asymmetry of the number of sunspots for the period of 1874–2013 are...     

Influence of Substorm Activity on the Formation of Ultra Low Frequency Noise Emissions in the Frequency Range of 0–7 Hz

Geomagnetism and Aeronomy - The results of the study of simultaneous observations of midlatitude ultra low frequency (ULF) noise emissions in the frequency range of 0–7 Hz and disturbances in...     

Rotation of the Solar Corona from Observations of Radio and X-Ray Solar Emission for Solar Activity Cycles 22–24

Geomagnetism and Aeronomy - The values of the radio and X-ray solar flux over the last three cycles of solar activity were studied for the presence of quasi-periodic oscillations via the...     

Effects of Earth’s Lateral Inhomogeneous Structures on Coseismic Gravity Changes

Based on the perturbation method, we present a new method to study the effects of Earth’s laterally inhomogeneous structures on coseismic gravity changes caused by dislocations within a 3-D heterogeneous spherical earth model. We describe this method by six independent dislocations: A vertical strike-slip, two vertical dip-slips perpendicular to each other, and three tensile openings on three perpendicular planes. We derived the calculation formulae for the six independent dislocations. A combination of the six independent dislocations is useful to compute the effects on coseismic gravity changes resulting from an arbitrary seismic source at an arbitrary position.     

Effects of molecular ions on the Rayleigh–Taylor instability in the night-time equatorial ionosphere

In view of composition measurements in the night-time equatorial ionosphere, the role of molecular ions on the collisional Rayleigh–Taylor instability is examined using a linear perturbation analysis and a growth rate expression in the presence of double-ion species is obtained. The expression reveals that the growth rate depends on the number densities of both the ion species. This is in contrast to a single ionic constituent wherein the growth rate is independent of number density. The numerical calculation under realistic conditions reveals that the growth rate of the instability reduces with the introduction of the second dominant ion species and never exceeds the growth rate corresponding to a single ionic constituent. Further, the growth of the plasma instability is feasible even when the scale length of the second dominant ion is negative.     

Effects of sand-mulch thickness on soil evaporation during the freeze–thaw period

Control of evaporation from seasonally frozen soil is an important method for alleviating water shortages in arid and semi-arid areas. To investigate the inhibition of soil evaporation by sand and the major factors that influence soil evaporation, a series of field experiments with five sand-mulch thicknesses (0 cm, bare soil [BS], 1 cm [T1], 2 cm [T2], 3 cm [T3] and 4 cm [T4], with an average diameter of 1 mm) were conducted during the freeze–thaw period in Northern China. Soil evaporation characteristics in the three freeze–thaw stages were revealed and the major factors influencing soil evaporation were analysed using grey correlation analysis. The results showed that the cumulative soil evaporation decreased with increasing sand-mulch thickness during the freeze–thaw period, and only small differences in soil evaporation were observed between the T3 and T4 treatments. The reduction in soil evaporation under different sand-mulch thicknesses was 19.2–62.6% in the unstable freezing stage (P1), 2.0–28.3% in the stable freezing stage (P2) and 4.8–20.4% in the thawing stage (P3). In P1, solar radiation was a major factor influencing soil evaporation in all treatments and vapour pressure was a major factor in the sand-mulch treatments, and the influence of relative humidity on soil evaporation decreased in the T4 treatment. During the coldest P2, solar radiation was lowest so that relative humidity and wind speed became the more dominant influence factors on soil evaporation in all treatments, and surface soil water content was a major factor in the sand-mulch treatments. In P3, average air temperature and solar radiation were major factor influencing soil evaporation in all treatments and vapour pressure was a major factor in the BS and T1 treatments, whereas water surface evaporation was the major factor in the T2, T3 and T4 treatments. The results suggest that the addition of sand mulch in agricultural fields may be a beneficial practice to reduce water stress in arid and semi-arid areas.