Guoying Jiang

Seasonal and quasi-biennial variations in the migrating diurnal tide observed by Thermosphere, Ionosphere, Mesosphere, Energetics and Dynamics (TIMED)

We present periodic variations of the migrating diurnal tide from Thermosphere, Ionosphere, Mesosphere, Energetics and Dynamics ( TIMED) temperature and wind data from 2002 to 2007 and meteor radar data at Maui (20.75 degrees N, 156.43 degrees W). There are strong quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) signatures in the amplitude of the diurnal tidal temperature in the tropical region and in the wind near +/- 20 degrees. The magnitude of the QBO in the diurnal tidal amplitude reaches about 3 K in temperature and about 7 m/s ( Northern Hemisphere) and 9 m/s ( Southern Hemisphere) in meridional wind. The period of the diurnal tide QBO is around 24-25 months in the mesosphere but is quite variable with altitude in the stratosphere. Throughout the mesosphere, the amplitude of the diurnal tide reaches maximum during March/April of years when the QBO in lower stratospheric wind is in the eastward phase. Because the tide shows amplification only during a limited time of the year, there are not enough data yet to determine whether the tidal variation is truly biennial (24-month period) or is quasi-biennial. The semiannual (SAO) and annual oscillations (AO) in the diurnal tide support previous findings: tidal amplitude is largest around equinoxes ( SAO signal) and is larger during the vernal equinox ( AO signal). TIMED Sounding of the Atmosphere using Broadband Emission Radiometry (TIMED/SABER) temperature and atmospheric pressure data are used to calculate the balance wind and the tides in horizontal wind. The comparison between the calculations and the wind observed by TIMED Doppler Interferometer (TIDI) and meteor radar indicates qualitative agreement, but there are some differences as well.

An observational and theoretical study of the longitudinal variation in neutral temperature induced by aurora heating in the lower thermosphere

In this paper, observations by thermosphere, ionosphere, mesosphere energetics and dynamics/Sounding of the Atmosphere using Broadband Emission Radiometry from 2002 to 2012 and by Envisat/Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding (MIPAS) from 2008 to 2009 are used to study the longitudinal structure of temperature in the lower thermosphere. In order to remove the longitudinal structure induced by tides, diurnally averaged SABER temperatures are used. For MIPAS data, we use averaged temperatures between day and night. The satellite observations show that there are strong longitudinal variations in temperature in the high-latitude lower thermosphere that persist over all seasons. The peak of the diurnally averaged temperature in the lower thermosphere always occurs around the auroral zone. A clear asymmetry between the two hemispheres in the longitudinal temperature structure is observed, being more pronounced in the Southern than in the Northern Hemisphere. In both hemispheres, the longitudinal variation is dominated by the first harmonic in longitude. The total radiative cooling observed by SABER has a structure in longitude that is similar to that of temperature. Modeling simulations using the Thermosphere-Ionosphere-Electrodynamics General Circulation Model reproduce similar features of the longitudinal variations of temperature in the lower thermosphere. Comparison of two model runs with and without auroral heating confirms that auroral heating causes the observed longitudinal variations. The multiyear averaged vertical structures of temperature observed by the two satellite instruments indicate that the impact of auroral heating on the thermodynamics of the neutral atmosphere can penetrate down to about 105 km.

Responses of the lower thermospheric temperature to the 9 day and 13.5 day oscillations of recurrent geomagnetic activity

Responses of the lower thermospheric temperature to the 9 day and 13.5 day oscillations of recurrent geomagnetic activity and solar EUV radiation have been investigated using neutral temperature data observed by the TIMED/SABER (Thermosphere Ionosphere Mesosphere Energetics and Dynamics/Sounding of the Atmosphere using Broadband Emission Radiometry) instrument and numerical experiments by the NCAR-TIME-GCM (National Center for Atmospheric Research–thermosphere-ionosphere-mesosphere electrodynamics–general circulation model). The TIMED/SABER data analyzed were for the period from 2002 to 2007 during the declining phase of solar cycle 23. The observations show that the zonal mean temperature in the lower thermosphere oscillated with periods of near 9 and 13.5 days in the height range of 100–120 km. These oscillations were more strongly correlated with the recurrent geomagnetic activity than with the solar EUV variability of the same periods. The 9 day and 13.5 day oscillations of lower thermospheric temperature had greater amplitudes at high latitudes than at low latitudes; they also had larger amplitudes at higher altitudes, and the oscillations could penetrate down to ~105 km, depending on the strength of the recurrent geomagnetic activity for a particular time period. The data further show that the periodic responses of the lower thermospheric temperature to recurrent geomagnetic activity were different in the two hemispheres. In addition, numerical experiments have been carried out using the NCAR-TIME-GCM to investigate the causal relationship between the temperature oscillations and the geomagnetic activity and solar EUV variations of the same periods. Model simulations showed the same periodic oscillations as those seen in the observations when the real geomagnetic activity index, Kp, was used to drive the model. These numerical results show that recurrent geomagnetic activity is the main cause of the 9 day and 13.5 day variations in the lower thermosphere temperature, and the contribution from solar EUV variations is minor. Furthermore, we also found that consecutive coronal mass ejection events could cause long-duration enhancements in the lower thermospheric temperature that strengthen the 9 day and 13.5 day signals, and this kind of phenomenon mostly occurred between 2002 and 2005 during the declining phase of solar cycle 23.

Thermospheric planetary wave‐type oscillations observed by FPIs over Xinglong and Millstone Hill

Three-year (2010-2013) observations of thermospheric winds (at similar to 250 km) by Fabry-Perot interferometers at Xinglong (XL, 40.2 degrees N, 117.4 degrees E) and Millstone Hill (MH, 42.6 degrees N, 71.5 degrees W) are used to study the climatology of atmospheric planetary wave-type oscillations (PWTOs) with periods of 4-19 days. We find that (1) these PWTOs occur more frequently in the months from May to October. They are consistent with the summertime preference of middle-latitude ionospheric electron density oscillations noted in other studies. (2) The month-to-month variations in PWTOs show phase changes between MH and XL, switching from antiphase to in phase when PWTO periods vary from short to long. (3) Typical PWTOs show annual and semiannual variations. The relative intensity of annual over semiannual components for PWTOs is different between XL and MH. (4) Magnetic storms and substorms have little influences on the annual and semiannual variations of the typical PWTO amplitudes. (5) Meridional wind PWTOs with typical periodicity bands around 5, 8, and 16 days appear to be correlated to both solar wind speed and K-p oscillations, suggesting a possible influence of the solar wind corotating interaction regions on neutral wind dynamics.

Ionospheric response to CIR-induced recurrent geomagnetic activity during the declining phase of solar cycle 23

This paper presents an epoch analysis of global ionosphere responses to recurrent geomagnetic activity during 79 corotating interaction region (CIR) events from 2004 to 2009. The data used were GPS total electron content (TEC) data from the Madrigal Database at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Haystack Observatory and the electron density (Ne) data obtained from CHAllenging Minisatellite Payload (CHAMP) observations. The results show that global ionosphere responses to CIR events have some common features. In high and middle latitudes, the total electron content (TEC) showed a significant positive response (increased electron densities) in the first epoch day. A negative TEC response occurred at high latitudes of the American sector following the positive response. The CHAMP Ne showed a daytime positive response in all latitudes and a nighttime negative response in the subauroral region. These negative TEC and Ne responses were found to be related to thermospheric composition (O/N-2) changes during the storms. At all latitudes, the maximum of the TEC positive effect always occurred at 2-6 h after the CIR starting during local daytime and 10-18 h later for the CIR onset during local nighttime. Case studies indicate that the TEC and Ne positive response had a strong dependence on the southward component (Bz) of the interplanetary magnetic field and solar wind speed. This suggests that penetration electric fields that were associated with changes in solar winds might play a significant role in the positive ionospheric response to storms. During the recovery time of the CIR-produced geomagnetic activity, the TEC positive disturbance at low latitudes sometimes could last for 2-4 days, whereas at middle to high latitudes the disturbance lasted only for 1 day in most cases. A comparison of the ionospheric responses between the American, European and Asian sectors shows that the ionosphere response in the North American sector was stronger than that in the other two regions. The response of f(o)F(2) to the CIR events in middle to high latitudes showed a negative response for 2-3 days after the first epoch day. This is different from the response of TEC, which was mostly positive during the same period of time.

Terdiurnal migrating‐tide signature in ionospheric total electron content

We report the latitudinal, seasonal and solar cycle variations of terdiurnal migrating tide (i.e., terdiurnal westward wave number 3, TW3) signature in ionospheric total electron content (TEC). Our investigations are based on the JPL global ionospheric maps (GIMs) during 1999-2011. The absolute amplitude of TW3 exhibits maximum values in the magnetic equatorial region, which reaches about 8 TECu under high solar activity and 1.5 TECu under low solar activity. The relative amplitude of zonal mean TEC in equatorial region, however, shows persistent patterns from 1999 to 2011 with little solar activity dependence. The relative amplitude of TW3 has a peak of similar to 10% in the magnetic equatorial region and a second one of similar to 7% at magnetic middle latitudes (30 degrees-50 degrees). At high latitudes in local winter seasons, the maximum relative amplitude occurs, which varies between 8 and 15% with slightly larger amplitudes in the Northern Hemisphere. The global structure of TW3 signature in TEC should shed some light on the coupling between the ionosphere-thermosphere and the lower atmosphere.