Studies on the shift in the frequency of the first Schumann resonance mode during a solar proton event

The variation of the first Schumann resonance (SR) frequency spectra observed from the recorded data over Kolkata (22.56°N, 88.5°E) during a solar proton event (SPE) on July 14, 2000 has been presented. It shows increase in frequency during X-ray bursts and decrease during the period of occurrence of an SPE. The results from some other locations for the same event are also reported. The severe X-ray bursts recorded just before the proton event exhibit enhancement in frequency of the first mode due to enhancement of ionization in the D-region of the ionosphere. Some attempts are made to explain the observed variation during solar proton events in terms of the perturbations within the Earth–ionosphere waveguide on the basis of two-layer-model.     

Investigation by backscatter radar of artificial irregularities produced in ionospheric plasma heating experiments

The artificial ionospheric turbulence occurs in the ionosphere illuminated by high power HF radio waves. There are a lot of irregularities stretched along the geomagnetic field in this region. The investigation of the artificially disturbed ionospheric region is based on the reception of back scattered signals (BSS) which permits the basic parameters of this region to be estimated and its inhomogeneous structure to be described.Experiments were carried out using ‘Sura’ heating facility in the frequency range of ? = 4.7–9 MHz (ordinary mode) with the effective radiated power P_eff = 50–70 MW beamed vertically upwards. The most important dynamic and statistical BSS characteristics (the built-up time, the relaxation and autocorrelation times, the BSS amplitude spatial correlation function and power spectra) were measured using probe waves in the frequency range of that made it possible to obtain the basic parameters of the artificial irregularities. The model representation of a disturbed region in a form of a periodic structure gives a possibity to evaluate the scale of the structure, the whole size of the disturbance and its power and to calculate the main BSS characteristics.     

Recovery of the form of acoustic signals in experiments with rock samples

The formation of signals in the receiving channel of the recording system is assumed to be described by the linear procedure of convolution (Duhamel’s integral) in the first approximation. In this case, distortions caused by irregularity in the amplitude-frequency characteristic of electroacoustic converters (receivers) can be reduced and a real form of input signals can be recovered. To do this, it is required to know the impulse characteristic of the receiver and the amplifying part of the input channel of the system and to perform secondary data processing. A principal possibility of recovering a form of the input signals in such a way is shown.     

Non-thermal profile of the 557.7 nm emission with Doppler shift of dissociative component

A rare case, when non-thermal profiles of the [OI] 557.7 nm line with the dissociative components shifted relative to an ordinary Doppler kernel appear in auroras, is considered. Based on an analysis of these profiles, it has been indicated that the dissociative component is shifted because the electric field is present during the recombination of O ₂ ⁺ ion with background electrons in the ionospheric F region. The electric field component along the line of sight of the Fabry-Pérot interferometer (24 mV m^?1) has been estimated using the Doppler shift of the dissociative component of the 557.7 nm profile emission as an example.     

GPR spectral analysis for clay content evaluation by the frequency shift method

A recent approach relates the shift of the frequency peak of the Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) spectrum with the increasing of the moisture content in the soil. The weakness characterizing this approach is represented by the needs of high resolution signals, whereas GPR spectra are affected by low resolution. The novelty introduced by this work is twofold. First, we evidence that clay content information is present in the location where the maximum amplitude of the GPR spectra occurs. Then, we propose three super resolution methods, namely parabolic, triangular, and sinc-based interpolators, to further refine the location of the frequency peak. In fact, it is really important to be able to find this location quite precisely, to obtain accurate estimates of clay content. We show that the peak location can be found best through sinc-interpolation in the frequency domain of the measured data. Our experimental results confirm the effectiveness of the proposed approach to resolve a frequency shift in the GPR spectrum, even for a small amount of clay.     

Analysis of frequency shifting in seismic signals using Gabor-Wigner transform

A hybrid time-frequency method known as Gabor-Wigner transform(GWT) is introduced in this paper for examining the time-frequency patterns of earthquake damaged buildings. GWT is developed by combining the Gabor transform(GT) and Wigner-Ville distribution(WVD). GT and WVD have been used separately on synthetic and recorded earthquake data to identify frequency shifting due to earthquake damages, but GT is prone to windowing effect and WVD involves ambiguity function. Hence to obtain better clarity and to remove the cross terms(frequency interference), GT and WVD are judiciously combined and the resultant GWT used to identify frequency shifting. Synthetic seismic response of an instrumented building and real-time earthquake data recorded on the building were investigated using GWT. It is found that GWT offers good accuracy for even slow variations in frequency, good time-frequency resolution, and localized response. Presented results confirm the efficacy of GWT when compared with GT and WVD used separately. Simulation results were quantified by the Renyi entropy measures and GWT shown to be an adequate technique in identifying localized response for structural damage detection.     

Effect of suprathermal electrons on the intensity and Doppler frequency of electron plasma lines

In an incoherent scattering radar experiment, the spectral measurement of the so-called up- and downshifted electron plasma lines provides information about their intensity and their Doppler frequency. These two spectral lines correspond, in the backscatter geometry, to two Langmuir waves travelling towards and away from the radar. In the daytime ionosphere, the presence of a small percentage of photoelectrons produced by the solar EUV of the total electron population can excite or damp these Langmuir waves above the thermal equilibrium, resulting in an enhancement of the intensity of the lines above the thermal level. The presence of photo-electrons also modifies the dielectric response function of the plasma from the Maxwellian and thus influences the Doppler frequency of the plasma lines. In this paper, we present a high time-resolution plasma-line data set collected on the EISCAT VHF radar. The analysed data are compared with a model that includes the effect of a suprathermal electron population calculated by a transport code. By comparing the intensity of the analysed plasma lines data to our model, we show that two sharp peaks in the electron suprathermal distribution in the energy range 20–30 eV causes an increased Landau damping around 24.25 eV and 26.25 eV. We have identified these two sharp peaks as the effect of the photoionisation of N2 and O by the intense flux of monochromatic HeII radiation of wavelength 30.378 nm (40.812 eV) created in the chromospheric network and coronal holes. Furthermore, we see that what would have been interpreted as a mean Doppler drift veloCity for a Maxwellian plasma is actually a shift of the Doppler frequency of the plasma lines due to suprathermal electrons.     

On estimation of high frequency geophysical signals in Earth rotation by complex demodulation

Polar motion and UT1 contain small geophysical signals (<0.1 milliarcsecond) driven by the daily cycle in the solar heating. These signals are either irregular or quasi-harmonic therefore need to be expressed by the time series and studied using the time domain techniques. This work is focused on the complex demodulation method which seems to be particularly useful for studying high frequency geophysical signals in Earth rotation. After general introduction of the method and its properties, we describe its application for modeling diurnal and subdiurnal components of polar motion and UT1 and of the corresponding excitation functions. We also derive dynamical equations which can be used for direct comparison of the signals demodulated from the Earth rotation and geophysical excitation data.     

The objective determination of the instantaneous predominant frequency of seismic signals and inferences onQ of coda waves

A technique to detect spectrum variations versus time along seismic signals is applied to coda waves of local earthquakes (Friuli, Northern Italy). The technique consists of an autoregressive modeling and utilizes nonlinear spectral analysis where the spectrum of stochastic processes is estimated as the transfer function of the filter that whitens the process under analysis. This approach appears to be particularly well suited to those investigations where automatic measurements of the instantaneous frequency have to be carried out on digital data. The detection of variations of the instantaneous frequency along the coda allows computation of seismic-Q in the lithosphere and its frequency dependence: the result obtained is $$Q = 100f^{0.4} $$ which appears to be strongly consistent with that, based on the estimate of the coda amplitude decay in the band including the most significant frequencies of the signals under analysis.     

On correction of loss of mass during Thellier experiments

Determination of geomagnetic paleointensity by the Thellier method compares the decay of natural remanent magnetisation with the gain of a laboratory induced thermoremanent magnetisation. If fragile samples lose some amount of their material after each heating step, the Thellier experiment will be systematically disturbed and paleointensity will be over-estimated. For a lost of 5% of the sample’s mass an over-estimate of 10% in paleointensity is observed. This can easily be corrected by a normalisation to the initial mass of the unheated sample. This is necessary for any fragile materials such as baked clays or when a specimen breaks into pieces during the Thellier experiment.     

Electromagnetic signals generated by the electric polarization during the constrained deformation of rocks

The results of synchronous observations of the electric field on the shallow crustal layers of the Earth’s crust and the microseismic vibrations are presented. On the basis of the coincidence of the statistics of the electric and microseismic pulses of the relaxation type, and, also, the fact that the indicated pulses accompany each other, the conclusion is reached about the unique source of both pulses. The constrained rotation of the structural block during its relaxation is considered as such a source. A mechanism is proposed for the generation of electromagnetic signals, connected with the separation of electric charges as a result of the rapid change in the stress-strain state of the rocks of a complex hierarchic-block structure. A model developed by the authors, for the generation of electromagnetic signals during the relaxation processes in the Earth’s crust of a heterogeneous structure, is presented.     

JJI甚低频台站信号对太阳耀斑事件的响应特性

太阳耀斑发生时,日地空间的X射线通量会随之增大,进而影响到地球电离层的电子密度分布,导致地球-电离层波导状态发生改变,因此接收到的甚低频（VLF,Very Low Frequency）信号会表现出对应的扰动现象.2017年9月8日,位于湖北省内武汉和随州两站点的VLF接收机分别监测到与X射线太阳耀斑相关的来自日本宫崎县（130°49'E,32°04'N）的JJI甚低频台站信号（22.2 kHz）的振幅异常事件.分析当日的数据发现JJI信号的振幅对不同的太阳耀斑出现不同的响应类型,而且对于同一个耀斑,两地的信号响应类型不尽相同.通过统计2017—2019年间与太阳耀斑相关的JJI信号振幅扰动事件,发现两接收站点的JJI信号响应类型都与耀斑强度及其发生时间存在一定的关系,且呈现出四种响应类型,即两次上升下降型、先上升后下降型、下降型和上升型,但是四种响应类型的事件占比不同.拟合结果表明信号的扰动幅度与X射线通量的积分成正相关,但是两站点的线性拟合斜率存在差异.JJI信号到武汉和随州均属于近似沿纬度方向的短距离传播,且两接收站点相距较近,因此两传播路径大致相似.研究两路径上JJI信号对太阳耀斑响应的差异性有助于理解VLF信号的传播以及探索其在太阳活动监测方面的应用.

     

On the use of the autocorrelation function: the constraint of using frequency band-limited signals for monitoring relative velocity changes

Correlations of seismic noise are commonly used to monitor temporal variations of relative seismic velocity in period ranges from 1 s up to 100 s. Of particular interest is the detection of small changes in the order of 0.01–0.1 % in propagation speeds. Measuring such small differences can, however, be significantly biased by temporal variations in the properties of the noise sources within the corresponding frequency band. Using synthetic data, we show that apparent relative velocity variations might appear only due to changes in the amplitude and frequency content caused by source variations. Removing such unwanted effects by applying narrow bandpass filters in the preprocessing restricts the high-resolution analysis of any signal due to Gabor’s uncertainty limit, i.e., the correlation function suffers a limited resolution to time delay estimates for small correlation times, low-frequency ranges, and in narrow frequency bands. Better understanding of spatiotemporal noise source properties and the theoretical limitations of time–frequency analysis is critical for accurate and reliable passive monitoring.     

Characteristics of frequency content of near-fault ground motions during the Chi-Chi earthquake

Introduction The dynamic response of structural systems subjected to earthquake ground shaking is sig-nificantly affected by the frequency content of input ground motions. When the frequency content of a predominant earthquake ground motion closely matches the natural period of a structural sys-tem, the dynamic response is significantly enhanced and thus may cause severe damage (Chopra, 1995). Therefore, it is of great importance to evaluate the frequency content of ground motions. In recent …     

Dynamics of large-scale ionospheric inhomogeneities caused by a powerful radio emission of the Sura facility from the data collected onto ground-based GNSS network

The measurements of variations in the total electron content of the Earth’s ionosphere along the GPS satellite signal propagation path are described. The signal parameters were measured at a network of receivers at three distant sites: Sura (Vasilsursk), Zelenodolsk, and Kazan. They are arranged along the geomagnetic latitude of the Sura Facility under short-wave radio irradiation of the ionosphere. One feature of the experiment is the crossing of a disturbed region by the radio path between a GPS satellite and Vasilsursk. This resulted from the angular sizes of the Sura array pattern; the radio paths between a GPS satellite and Zelenodolsk and a GPS satellite and Kazan did not cross. Variations in the total electron content of up to 0.15?0.3 TECU were revealed at all three sites during four experimental campaigns (March 2010, March 2013, May 2013, and November 2013). The lateral scale of an ionospheric disturbance stimulated by a high-power radio wave and the velocity of its west-to-east propagation along the geomagnetic latitude were 30–60 km and 270–350 m/s, respectively. A decrease in the total electron content (down to 0.55 TECU) was recorded along the Kazan–Zelenodolsk–Vasilsurks line, which is connected with the solar terminator transit; the lateral scale of the related ionospheric inhomogeneities was ~65–80 km.     

Seismomagnetic signals and perturbations recorded during the 2007 Nevelsk earthquake and its aftershocks

Anomalous variations in the geomagnetic field observed in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk are compared with six-hour-long records of aftershocks of the Nevelsk earthquake of August 2, 2007. It is established that the geomagnetic signals usually appeared a few minutes before or after the closest-in-time-aftershocks. Sometimes, the geomagnetic signals were detected between the arrivals of P and S waves from the repeated quakes. Possible correlations between several parameters of the repeated quakes and the characteristics of magnetic signals are studied.     

The electromagnetic background of the high frequency radio range during solar eclipses

We examine variations in the level of the electromagnetic background of the high-frequency radio range based on monitoring data conducted in Tomsk. We establish the main laws by which it changes in various frequency bands during three solar eclipses observed in Tomsk: the level of the electromagnetic background increases to 40 dB at frequencies of 3–7 MHz, decreases to 40 dB at frequencies of 11–30 MHz, and remains almost unchanged relative to the level of control days at frequencies of 7–11 MHz.     

Variations in the parameters of VLF signals on the DEMETER satellite during the periods of seismic activity

Two methods for diagnosing ionospheric disturbances using VLF signals received on the DEMETER satellite are considered in connection with two cases of high seismic activity: the method for analyzing a signal reception zone in order to find large-scale spatial variations and the residual signal method used to reveal time variations. Based on an analysis of the VLF signal reception zone, performed in connection with the catastrophic earthquake near Sumatra, it has been found out that the signal amplitude decreased during a month before the earthquake. As a result, it has been concluded that the zone of ionospheric disturbances extends for several thousand kilometers. It has been indicated that the residual signal method showed good agreement between the ground and satellite data when high seismic activity near Japan was analyzed.     

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.