Joei Wroten

Modelling F2-layer seasonal trends and day-to-day variability driven by coupling with the lower atmosphere

This paper presents results from the TIME-GCM-CCM3 thermosphere–ionosphere–lower atmosphere flux-coupled model, and investigates how well the model simulates known F2-layer day/night and seasonal behaviour and patterns of day-to-day variability at seven ionosonde stations. Of the many possible contributors to F2-layer variability, the present work includes only the influence of ‘meteorological’ disturbances transmitted from lower levels in the atmosphere, solar and geomagnetic conditions being held at constant levels throughout a model year. In comparison to ionosonde data, TIME-GCM-CCM3 models the peak electron density (NmF2) quite well, except for overemphasizing the daytime summer/winter anomaly in both hemispheres and seriously underestimating night NmF2 in summer. The peak height hmF2 is satisfactorily modelled by day, except that the model does not reproduce its observed semiannual variation. Nighttime values of hmF2 are much too low, thus causing low model values of night NmF2. Comparison of the variations of NmF2 and the neutral [O/N2] ratio supports the idea that both annual and semiannual variations of F2-layer electron density are largely caused by changes of neutral composition, which in turn are driven by the global thermospheric circulation. Finally, the paper describes and discusses the characteristics of the F2-layer response to the imposed ‘meteorological’ disturbances. The ionospheric response is evaluated as the standard deviations of five ionospheric parameters for each station within 11-day blocks of data. At any one station, the patterns of variability show some coherence between different parameters, such as peak electron density and the neutral atomic/molecular ratio. Coherence between stations is found only between the closest pairs, some 2500 km apart, which is presumably related to the scale size of the ‘meteorological’ disturbances. The F2-layer day-to-day variability appears to be related more to variations in winds than to variations of thermospheric composition.

The night when the auroral and equatorial ionospheres converged

An all-sky imaging system at the McDonald Observatory (30.67°N, 104.02°W, 40° magnetic latitude) showed dramatic ionospheric effects during a moderate geomagnetic storm on 1 June 2013. The auroral zone expanded, leading to the observation of a stable auroral red (SAR) arc. Airglow depletions associated with equatorial spread F (ESF) were also seen for the first time at such high magnetic latitude. Total electron content measurements from a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver exhibited ionospheric irregularities typically associated with ESF. We explore why this moderate geomagnetic disturbance leads to such dramatic ionospheric perturbations at midlatitudes. A corotating interaction region-like driver and a highly contracted plasmasphere caused the SAR arc to occur at L shell ~ 2.3. For ESF at L ~ 2.1, timing of the storm intensification, alignment of the sunset terminator with the central magnetic meridian, and sudden variations in the westward auroral electrojet all combined to trigger equatorial irregularities that reached altitudes of ~ 7000 km. The SAR arc and ESF signatures at the ionospheric foot points of inner magnetosphere L shells (L ~ 2) represent a dramatic convergence of pole to equator/equator to pole coupling at midlatitudes.

SAR arcs we have seen: Evidence for variability in stable auroral red arcs

Since 1987, an all-sky airglow imaging system has operated from a site at the Millstone Hill/Haystack Observatory in Westford, MA. During the ~2.5 solar cycles from 1987 to 2014, many studies using all-sky images, in conjunction with incoherent scatter radar and satellite data, described subauroral, ionospheric disturbances observed during individual geomagnetic storms. The most prominent storm time optical feature from a subauroral site is a stable auroral red (SAR) arc. The standard use of a SAR arcs position is to locate the ionospheric footprint of the narrow plasmapause-ring current interaction region where heat conduction from the inner magnetosphere excites emission within the F layer trough. When mapped from an emission altitude of 400 km to the geomagnetic equatorial plane, SAR arcs from Millstone Hill give the location of the plasmapause at radial distances between 2 to 4.5 Earth radii. A total of 314 SAR arcs have been observed during the 27 years of imaging at Millstone Hill. We find no single morphology for all SAR arcs, but rather patterns that occasionally depart from stability in space and time. We have classified these into five categories: longevity, multiplicity, zonal structure, latitudinal inhomogeneity, and tilt with respect to geomagnetic coordinates. In each case, the implications for the inner magnetosphere sources that drive SAR arcs are explored. While individual SAR arc variability characteristics have been noted in previous studies, here we describe for the first time all five types from the same site—an aspect not yet addressed in either magnetosphere or ionosphere modeling studies.

The first use of coordinated ionospheric radio and optical observations over Italy: Convergence of high and low latitude storm-induced effects?

Ionospheric storm effects at mid latitudes were analyzed using different ground-based instruments distributed in Italy during the 13-15 November 2012 geomagnetic storm. These included an all-sky imager (ASI) in Asiago (45.8°N, 11.5°E), a network of dual-frequencies GNSS receivers (RING network), and ionosondes in Rome (41.8°N, 12.5°E) and San Vito (40.6°N, 17.8°E). GPS measurements showed an unusual enhancement of Total Electron Content (TEC) in southern Italy, during the nights of 14 and 15 November. The ASI observed co-located enhancements of 630 nm airglow at the same time, as did variations in NmF2 measured by the ionosondes. Moreover, wave-like perturbations were identified propagating from the north. The Ensemble Empirical Mode Decomposition, applied to TEC values revealed the presence of travelling ionospheric disturbances (TIDs) propagating southward between 01:30 UT and 03:00 UT on 15 November. These TIDs were characterized by weak TEC oscillations (~ ±0.5 TEC unit), period of 45 minutes and velocity of 500 m/s typical of Large Scale TIDs. Optical images showed enhanced airglow entering the field of view of the ASI from the N-NE at 02:00 UT and propagating to the S-SW, reaching the region covered by the GPS stations after 03:00 UT, when TEC fluctuations are very small (~ ±0.2 TEC unit). The enhancement of TEC and airglow observed in Southern Italy could be a consequence of a poleward expansion of the northern crest of the equatorial ionization anomaly. The enhanced airglow propagating from the north and the TEC waves resulted from energy injected at auroral latitudes as confirmed by magnetometer observations in Scandinavia.

A Stable Auroral Red (SAR) Arc with Multiple Emission Features

Stable auroral red (SAR) arcs offer sub-visible evidence for storm-time linkages between the inner-magnetosphere and the mid-latitude ionosphere. A SAR arcs defining characteristics are horizon-to-horizon east-west extent, a few degrees of latitude in meridianal extent, emission only at the oxygen 6300 A line, and minimal brightness changes during a night— effects readily provided by steady heat conduction from the ring current-plasmapause interaction region. Here we describe a typical SAR arc (brightness ~300 Rayleighs) with several superimposed patches of emission in two oxygen lines (with a 6300 A/5577 A ratio of ~40). We find no evidence for highly-localized heating effects, but rather evidence from GPS satellites supporting low energy electron precipitation as the SAR arc modulating mechanism. Seven brightness peaks with average longitude spacing of ~4o define a new spatial pattern for SAR arcs studies.