E. A. Kherani

Atmospheric and ionospheric response to sudden stratospheric warming of January 2013

In this work, we examine the atmospheric and ionospheric responses to the January 2013 sudden stratospheric warming (SSW) event. To examine the atmospheric and ionospheric behavior during this event, three main parameters are used (1) Total Electron Content (TEC) collected from the International Global Positioning System and from the Brazilian Network of Continuous Monitoring stations, (2) daytime E × B vertical drift derived from the magnetometers located at the equatorial station Alta Floresta (9.9°S, 55.9°W, dip latitude 1.96°) and an off-equatorial station Cuiaba (15.3°S, 56.0°W, dip latitude 7.10°), both in the Brazilian sector, (3) the mesosphere and lower thermosphere (MLT) meridional and zonal wind components measured by the Meteor Radar located at the southern midlatitude Santa Maria (29.4°S, 53.3°W, dip latitude 17.8°). We identify the anomalous variation in E × B drift based on later local-time migration of peak value with SSW days. A novel feature of the present study is the identification of the similar migration pattern in the TEC anomaly, in spite that the simultaneous solar flux increases during the SSW event. Other novel features are the amplification of the 13–16 day period in the TEC anomaly during the SSW days and simultaneous amplification of this period in the meridional and zonal wind components in the MLT region, as far as 30°S. These aspects reveal the presence of coupled atmosphere-ionosphere dynamics during the SSW event and the amplification of the lunar and/or solar tidal component, a characteristic which is recently reported from the electrojet current measurements.

Wave structure and polarization electric field development in the bottomside F layer leading to postsunset equatorial spread F

In this paper we present the results of a study on the characteristics of large-scale wave structure in the equatorial ionospheric F region that serve as precursor to postsunset development of the spread F/plasma bubble irregularities. The study is based on analysis of Digisonde data from three equatorial sites in Brazil (Fortaleza, Sao Luis, and Cachimbo) for a period of about 2 months at a medium solar activity phase. Small-amplitude oscillations in the F layer heights, extracted at a number of plasma frequencies, present characteristics as them being generated from upward propagating gravity waves. They represent wave structures in polarization electric field having zonal scale of a few hundred kilometers. Their amplitudes in the afternoon hours undergo amplification toward evening, leading to postsunset development of equatorial spread F/plasma bubble irregularities, on a statistical basis. On the days of their larger amplitudes they appear to occur in phase coherence on all days, and correspondingly, the evening prereversal vertical drift velocities are larger than on days of the smaller amplitudes of the wave structure that appear at random phase on the different days. The sustenance of these precursor wave structures is supported by the relatively large ratio (approaching unity) of the F region-to-total field line-integrated Pedersen conductivities as calculated using the Sheffield University Plasmasphere-Ionosphere Model simulation of the low-latitude ionosphere. The significant amplification in the wave structure toward sunset and the “phase coherent” nature of their occurrences on different days are explained tentatively on the basis of the spatial resonance mechanism.

Multi-technique investigations of storm-time ionospheric irregularities over the São Luís equatorial station in Brazil

On 11 April 2001, a large magnetic storm occurred with SSC at 13:43 UT, and Dst reached below 200 nT after two southward Bz excursions. The Kp index during this storm reached 8 and remained high (>4) for about 21 h, and the SLumagnetometer H component presented simultaneous oscillations and decreased substantially rela- tive to the previous magnetically quiet days. This storm trig- gered strong ionospheric irregularities, as observed by a re- cently installed 30 MHz coherent scatter radar, a digisonde, and a GPS scintillation receiver, all operating at the S ˜ ao Lu´

Low‐latitude scintillation weakening during sudden stratospheric warming events

Global Positioning System (GPS) L1-frequency (1.575 GHz) amplitude scintillations at Sao Jose dos Campos (23.1°S, 45.8°W, dip latitude 17.3°S), located under the southern crest of the equatorial ionization anomaly, are analyzed during the Northern Hemisphere winter sudden stratospheric warming (SSW) events of 2001/2002, 2002/2003, and 2012/2013. The events occurred during a period when moderate to strong scintillations are normally observed in the Brazilian longitude sector. The selected SSW events were of moderate and major categories and under low Kp conditions. The most important result of the current study is the long-lasting (many weeks) weakening of scintillation amplitudes at this low-latitude station, compared to their pre-SSW periods. Ionosonde-derived evening vertical plasma drifts and meridional neutral wind effects inferred from total electron content measurements are consistent with the observed weakening of GPS scintillations during these SSW events. This work provides strong evidence of SSW effects on ionospheric scintillations and the potential consequences of such SSW events on Global Navigation Satellite System-based applications.

Advantage of wavelet technique to highlight the observed geomagnetic perturbations linked to the Chilean tsunami (2010)

The vertical component (Z) of the geomagnetic field observed by ground-based observatories of the International Real-Time Magnetic Observatory Network has been used to analyze the induced magnetic fields produced by the movement of a tsunami, electrically conducting sea water through the geomagnetic field. We focus on the survey of minutely sampled geomagnetic variations induced by the tsunami of 27 February 2010 at Easter Island (IPM) and Papeete (PPT) observatories. In order to detect the tsunami disturbances in the geomagnetic data, we used wavelet techniques. We have observed an 85% correlation between the Z component variation and the tide gauge measurements in period range of 10 to 30 min which may be due to two physical mechanisms: gravity waves and the electric currents in the sea. As an auxiliary tool to verify the disturbed magnetic fields, we used the maximum variance analysis (MVA). At PPT, the analyses show local magnetic variations associated with the tsunami arriving in advance of sea surface fluctuations by about 2 h. The first interpretation of the results suggests that wavelet techniques and MVA can be effectively used to characterize the tsunami contributions to the geomagnetic field and further used to calibrate tsunami models and implemented to real-time analysis for forecast tsunami scenarios.

Fringe field dynamics over equatorial and low‐latitude ionosphere: A three‐dimensional perspective

This paper presents a three-dimensional simulation of the collisional interchange instability generating equatorial plasma bubble (EPB) in the evening ionospheric F region and associated fringe field (FF) in the valley-upper-E (VE) region. This simulation is primarily intended to address hitherto unexplained radar observations of ascending irregularity structures only in the vicinity of the magnetic equator in association with the EPB phenomenon. Novel results of the present simulation are the following: (1) EPB-associated FF penetrating into the E region is found to be confined to a latitude belt of ±5∘, (2) ascending irregularity structures from the E region is formed only when perturbation in plasma parameters similar to those responsible for forming EPB are present in the VE region, and (3) perturbation in the VE region provide conditions for the formation of ascending irregularity structures on the eastern wall of the plasma bubble. These results are in excellent agreement with radar observations and also account for the presence of metallic ions in the EPB at and above the F region peak.

Investigations of conjugate MSTIDS over the Brazilian sector during daytime

This study focuses on the daytime Medium Scale Travelling Ionospheric Disturbances (MSTIDs) observed at conjugate hemispheres. It is the first time that the geomagnetical conjugate daytime MSTIDs is are observed over the South America sector. To observe the MSTID characteristics, we used detrended Total Electron Content (TEC) derived from GNSS receivers located at Brazilian sector covering the northern and southern hemispheres along the same magnetic meridian. The geographic grid of 1°N to 14°S in latitude and 60°S to 50°S in longitude (Figure 1) was selected for this study. The cross-correlation method between two latitudes and longitudes in time was used to observe the propagation of the MSTID waves. The following features are noted: (a) MSTIDs are well developed at both hemispheres, (b) the peak MSTIDs amplitudes varies from one hemisphere to the another, hence, we suppose that MSTIDs generated in southern hemisphere or northern hemisphere mirrored in the conjugate hemisphere, (c) the gravity wave induced electric fields from one hemisphere map along the field lines and generate the mirrored MSTIDs in the conjugate region. To investigate the hemispheric mapping mechanism, a rough approximation for the integrated field line conductivity ratio of E and F regions is calculated using digisonde E and F region parameters. We noted that during the period of mapping the decrease in E region conductivity results in an increase in total conductivity. This shows that the E region was partially short circuited hence electric field generated at F region could map to the conjugate hemisphere during daytime.

An alternative possibility to equatorial plasma bubble forecasting through mathematical modeling and Digisonde data

Equatorial plasma bubbles (EPBs), or large-scale plasma depleted regions, are one of the subjects of great interest in space weather research since such phenomena have been extensively reported to cause strong degrading effects on transionospheric radio propagation at low latitudes, especially over the Brazilian region, where satellite communication interruptions by the EPBs have been, frequently, registered. One of the most difficult tasks for this field of scientific research is the forecasting of such plasma-depleted structures. This forecasting capability would be of significant help for users of positioning/navigation systems operating in the low-latitude/equatorial region all over the world. Recently, some efforts have been made trying to assess and improve the capability of predicting the EPB events. The purpose of this paper is to present an alternative approach to EPB prediction by means of the use of mathematical numerical simulation associated with ionospheric vertical drift, obtained through Digisonde data, focusing on telling beforehand whether ionospheric plasma instability processes will evolve or not into EPB structures. Modulations in the ionospheric vertical motion induced by gravity waves prior to the prereversal enhancement occurrence were used as input in the numerical model. A comparison between the numerical results and the observed EPB phenomena through CCD all-sky image data reveals a considerable coherence and supports the hypothesis of a capability of short-term forecasting.

Origin of the ahead of tsunami traveling ionospheric disturbances during Sumatra tsunami and offshore forecasting

The presence of ionospheric disturbances associated with Sumatra 2004 tsunami that propagated ahead of tsunami itself has previously been identified. However their origin remains unresolved till date. Focusing on their origin mechanism, we document these ionospheric disturbances referred as Ahead of tsunami Travelling Ionospheric Disturbances (ATIDs). Using TEC data from GPS Aided GEO Augmented Navigation (GAGAN) GPS receivers located near the Indian east coast, we first confirm the ATIDs presence in TEC that appear ~90 minutes ahead of the arrival of tsunami at the Indian east coast. We propose here a simulation study based on Tsunami-Atmospheric-Ionospheric coupling that considers tsunamigenic Acoustic Gravity Waves (AGWs) to excite these disturbances. We explain the ATIDs generation based on the dissipation of transverse mode of the primary AGWs. The simulation corroborates the excitation of ATIDs with characteristics similar to the observations. Therefore, we offer an alternative theoretical tool to monitor the offshore ATIDs where observations are either rare or not available and could be potentially important for the tsunami early warning.

Unstable density distribution associated with equatorial plasma bubble

In this work, we present a simulation study of equatorial plasma bubble (EPB) in the evening time ionosphere. The fluid simulation is performed with a high grid resolution, enabling us to probe the steepened updrafting density structures inside EPB. Inside the density depletion that eventually evolves as EPB, both density and updraft are functions of space from which the density as implicit function of updraft velocity or the density distribution function is constructed. In the present study, this distribution function and the corresponding probability distribution function are found to evolve from Maxwellian to non-Maxwellian as the initial small depletion grows to EPB. This non-Maxwellian distribution is of a gentle-bump type, in confirmation with the recently reported distribution within EPB from space-borne measurements that offer favorable condition for small scale kinetic instabilities.