Sunanda Basu

Ionospheric effects of major magnetic storms during the International Space Weather Period of September and October 1999: GPS observations, VHF/UHF scintillations, and in situ density structures at middle and equatorial latitudes

In this paper we present a study of the ionospheric effects of a halo coronal mass ejection (CME) initiated on the Sun on September 20, 1999, and causing the largest magnetic storm during this month on September 22–23, 1999, with the hourly Dst index being −167 nT at ∼2400 UT on September 22. The recurrent CME on October 18 caused an even larger magnetic storm on October 22, 1999, with Dst of −231 nT at ∼0700 UT. The ionospheric effects of these two major magnetic storms are studied through their effects on a prototype of a Global Positioning System (GPS)-based navigation system called Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) being developed by the Federal Aviation Administration for use in the continental United States and their impact on global VHF/UHF communication systems. It is shown that the penetration of transient magnetospheric electric fields equatorward of the shielding region at midlatitudes, which have been well-correlated in the past with rapid changes in the well-known Dst index (or through its recently available high resolution 1-min counterpart the SYM-H index), can cause large increases of total electron content (TEC), TEC fluctuations, and saturated 250-MHz scintillation, and these, in turn, may have significant impacts on WAAS. The local time of Dst changes (and not just Dst magnitude) was found to be very important for WAAS, since the largest effects on TEC are seen near dusk. The prompt penetration of these magnetospheric electric fields all the way to the magnetic equator causes augmentation or inhibition of equatorial spread F. The global ionospheric response to these storms has been obtained from ground-based TEC observations with a GPS network and space-based in situ density and electric field measurements using the Republic of China Satellite-1 (ROCSAT-I) and several Defense Meteorological Satellite Program satellites. These prompt penetration electric fields cause VHF/UHF scintillations and GPS TEC variations at low latitudes in the specific longitude sector for which the early evening period corresponds to the time of rapid Dst variations and maximum Dst phase. The effects of the delayed ionospheric disturbance dynamo and those of decreased magnetospheric convection on postmidnight irregularity generation are shown to be confined to a part of the same longitude range that actively responded to the prompt penetration of electric fields in the early evening sector.

Equatorial scintillation and systems support

The need to nowcast and forecast scintillation for the support of operational systems has been recently identified by the interagency National Space Weather Program. This issue is addressed in the present paper in the context of nighttime irregularities in the equatorial ionosphere that cause intense amplitude and phase scintillations of satellite signals in the VHF/UHF range of frequencies and impact satellite communication, Global Positioning System navigation, and radar systems. Multistation and multifrequency satellite scintillation observations have been used to show that even though equatorial scintillations vary in accordance with the solar cycle, the extreme day-to-day variability of unknown origin modulates the scintillation occurrence during all phases of the solar cycle. It is shown that although equatorial scintillation events often show correlation with magnetic activity, the major component of scintillation is observed during magnetically quiet periods. In view of the day-to-day variability of the occurrence and intensity of scintillating regions, their latitude extent, and their zonal motion, a regional specification and short-term forecast system based on real-time measurements has been developed. This system, named the Scintillation Network Decision Aid, consists of two latitudinally dispersed stations, each of which uses spaced antenna scintillation receiving systems to monitor 250-MHz transmissions from two longitudinally separated geostationary satellites. The scintillation index and zonal irregularity drift are processed on-line and are retrieved by a remote operator on the Internet. At the operator terminal the data are combined with an empirical plasma bubble model to generate three-dimensional maps of irregularity structures and two-dimensional outage maps for the region.

The multi-instrumented studies of equatorial thermosphere aeronomy scintillation system : Climatology of zonal drifts

A spaced-antenna scintillation system was installed at Ancon, Peru, in May 1994 to measure scintillation of 250-MHz signals from a geostationary satellite by three antennas spaced in the magnetic east-west direction. These measurements were used to establish the climatology of the zonal drift of the irregularities which cause equatorial scintillations. The major objective of this study is to compare this drift climatology to the climatology of zonal neutral wind which is the driver of the equatorial electrodynamics. A comparison of these two climatologies in conjunction with scintillation statistics may provide some clues regarding factors which help or hinder the formation of equatorial spread-F (ESF). With these objectives in mind, the first years drift and scintillation statistics have been presented as a function of local time, season and magnetic activity and compared with the statistics of ion drift published earlier from incoherent scatter radar observations. The scintillation drift is in good agreement with the Jicamarca radar observations except for the fact that the local time dependence of our drift observations exhibit a broader maximum. The broad maximum may be attributed to lower ion drag experienced in the presence of ESF due to sustained uplifting of the ionosphere. During magnetically active periods, the scintillation drift often exhibits east to west reversals presumably because of the disturbance dynamo effects. The westward drifts during such reversals may be as large as 100 m/s. We have also modeled the zonal drifts as a seasonal basis by using Hedins neutral wind model and Andersons fully analytical ionospheric model. The modeled zonal drifts present good quantitative agreement with the drifts obtained with the scintillation technique.

Measurement of the latitudinal distributions of total electron content during equatorial spread F events

We have constructed latitudinal profiles of the total electron content (TEC) using measurements from six GPS receivers conducted during 1998. The TEC profiles have been divided into two groups: One corresponds to days when plumes or equatorial spread F (ESF) develops, and the second group portrays days of no-ESF condition. The presence/absence of ESF is based on the signature of the coherent echoes measured by the Jicamarca Unattended Long-Term Investigation (JULIA) radar and records of scintillations from two sites spaced in latitude. One scintillation station is located near the magnetic equator (Ancon) and the other 12° southward (Antofagasta). The TEC profiles display the typical day-to-day and seasonal variability seen at low latitudes. During the equinoxes, we observed quite often the crests of the anomaly located between 12° and 20° away from the magnetic equator and a trough in-between. The monthly distribution of the appearance of the anomaly and the local time of their appearance are in very good agreement with the reported variability of the upward vertical drifts and the current theory of the equatorial fountain effect. During the equinoxes and the December solstice, the TEC anomaly is observed almost every day, sometimes when there is no ESF activity. Nevertheless, fine inspection of the TEC latitudinal profiles suggests the existence of a close relationship between the temporal evolution of the TEC profiles near sunset and the onset of ESF. We have examined the TEC latitudinal distributions in two different ways. First, we calculated time difference profiles using the distributions corresponding to 1800 and 2000 LT. Second, we used a parameterization of the TEC distributions obtained at 2000 LT. The first method indicates quite drastic increases of the crest values and sharp decreases near the trough during ESF days. In contrast, during days of no ESF there exist almost uniform TEC decreases at all latitudes. The second method displays a preferred high crest/trough ratio (>2), small TEC values at the trough, and large latitudinal integrated values during ESF events.

Characteristics of plasma structuring in the cusp/cleft region at Svalbard

Satellite scintillation, all-sky optical imager, and digisonde observations were coordinated during a cusp campaign conducted at Ny Alesund, Svalbard (78.9°N, 11.8°E 75.7°N corrected geomagnetic latitude, over the period January 4–15, 1997. This paper is focused on a study of the distribution and dynamics of mesoscale (tens of kilometers to tens of meters) electron density irregularities in the dayside auroral region. This study has been performed at Ny Alesund, Svalbard, by measuring the effects of these irregularities on the amplitude scintillation of 250-MHz transmissions from a quasi-stationary polar satellite as well as the amplitude and phase scintillation of 1.6-GHz signals from Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites. These GPS scintillation measurements were augmented by the use of dual-frequency (1.2 and 1.6 GHz) GPS phase data acquired at the same station by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for the International GPS Geodynamic Service (IGS). The continuous 250-MHz scintillation observations explored the daytime auroral ionosphere 2° poleward of Ny Alesund and showed that the scintillation spectra are often broad, as may be expected for irregularities in a turbulent flow region. Such irregularity dynamics were detected poleward of the nominal cusp region over the interval of 0600–1500 magnetic local time. The period of observations included the magnetic storm of January 10–11, 1997, when GPS observations of the IGS detected polar cap patches with total electron contents of 3×1016 m−2 and large-scale (tens of kilometers) phase variations at the GPS frequency of 1.6 GHz that corresponded to temporal gradients of 2×1016 m−2 min−1. However, amplitude scintillations at the GPS frequency of 1.6 GHz could not be detected in association with these large-scale phase variations, indicating that the irregularities with wavelengths less than the Fresnel dimension of 400 m were below the detectable limit. This is shown to be consistent in the context of enhanced ionospheric convection determined by digisonde and scintillation spectra.

Global aspects of plasma structures

Abstract This topical review provides an overview of the progress achieved under Project 3.1, entitled Global Aspects of Plasma Structures (GAPS) during the lifetime of the Solar Terrestrial Energy Program (STEP) from 1990–97. The mandate of the GAPS project covered middle and high latitude plasma structuring. However, given the requirement of limited length for this overview, only high latitude studies will be covered because of the particularly collaborative nature of the effort, made possible by an international program such as STEP. High latitude plasma structuring studies have progressed from joint experimental campaigns involving many locations and diagnostic techniques, and several focused international workshops that united experimenters and modelers. They have provided the groundwork for studying the macroscale (hundreds of km) and mesoscale (km and smaller) plasma structures at high latitudes under two distinct configurations of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF). When the IMF is directed southward, we observe macroscale, enhanced density structures known as patches. We have documented much on their origin, modification by the electric field structure in the cusp, airglow signatures in the polar cap, interaction with the neutral medium, mesoscale structuring causing scintillations, convection through the polar cap, and eventual exit into the auroral oval. This has led to several modeling efforts, demonstrating patch formation via temporal changes in the large-scale flow configuration in the cusp. Additionally, we have successfully linked the climatology of the macroscale structure model to the mesoscale structure in the polar regions, an advance that may lead to truly predictive irregularity models for forecasting effects on communication and navigation systems during the upcoming solar maximum. For northward IMF conditions, we have advanced our ability to simulate Sun-aligned arcs using a magnetosphere–ionosphere (M–I) coupled model, driven by realistic magnitudes of electric fields, conductivities and currents. The simulation has been enabled by utilizing an extensive ground-based optical database supported by satellite measurements of their morphological characteristics, including their dawn-dusk motion, dependence on IMF By, and propensity for multiple structuring. We soon expect significant advances resulting from several newly established powerful instruments in the northern and southern polar regions.

Equatorial plasma depletion precursor signatures and onset observed at 11° south of the magnetic equator

Coordinated radio and optical measurements of the structure and dynamics of the postsunset equatorial ionosphere were conducted on October 1, 1994, from Agua Verde, Chile (11.3°S magnetic latitude (MLat)). The measurements clearly show a north-south aligned undulation or ripple on the bottomside of the F layer at 2000 LT, appearing as an eastward propagating decrease in the 630.0-nm airglow, resembling a traveling ionospheric disturbance in the digital portable ionosonde measurements and causing a total electron content decrease in the Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite measurements. The initial development of this feature, toward the east and away from the magnetic equator, took place in an otherwise smooth, unstructured ionosphere. Spread F began to develop in the ionograms at 2020 LT, and, at this same time, local onset of satellite signal scintillation was detected using the multiple ray paths throughout the sky available from the GPS satellite constellation transmitting at L band frequencies. UHF scintillation measurements from Ancon, Peru, along the same magnetic field line, show that intense scintillation and ionospheric irregularities had developed over the magnetic equator almost 60 min prior to their development at 11°S MLat. The observations suggest that the east-west electric field expected to be present within the earlier developed depletion and scintillation region at the magnetic equator mapped along magnetic field lines to lower altitudes and higher latitudes, resulting in an undulation or dome-shaped structure, before evolving into a fully developed depletion (with associated ionospheric irregularities) all along the magnetic flux tube.

Preliminary comparisons of VHF radar maps of F-region irregularities with scintillations in the equatorial region

Abstract Multiantenna 50 MHz radar backscatter maps of echo power from night-time F-region equatorial irregularities obtained at Jicamarca, Peru were compared with simultaneous VHF scintillation observations from Huancayo at 137 and 254 MHz during the period 20 November–12 December 1975. Saturation of VHF scintillations in excess of 20 dB was observed at both these frequencies during times when radar maps showed large intense plume structures rising into the topside ionosphere. On nights when only thin layers of bottomside irregularities were observed moderate to weak scintillations were recorded at VHF. Preliminary values of east-west horizontal irregularity drift velocities were obtained and compared with scintillation rate observations. Using the 1.5° and 4.5° longitudinal separation between the Jicamarca radar and ionospheric observation points of the two satellites from Huancayo, information was derived regarding large-scale east-west structure during the development phase of the irregularities.

Evolution of subkilometer scale ionospheric irregularities generated by high‐power HF waves

Electron density irregularities in the F region excited by the European incoherent scatter (EISCAT) high-power high-frequency (HF) facility in Ramfjordmoen, Norway, have been studied in detail by observing scintillations of 250-MHz satellite signals traversing the HF beam. Spaced antenna measurements were performed to determine the temporal structure of scintillation and the drift of the irregularities. Studies of scintillation spectra indicate that even though the onset occurs nearly simultaneously for all irregularity scale sizes, the electron density irregularities with wavelengths in the range of 50–15 m attain their saturation amplitudes within tens of seconds, whereas longer scale-size irregularities with wavelengths exceeding 100 m saturate in the timescale of minutes. The threshold power density requirement for the generation of irregularities of different scales has also been studied by the variation of the heater power. It is found that for large-scale (>100 m) irregularities the threshold power density varies inversely as the irregularity wavelength with a power law index of 4 as predicted by the theories of self-focusing instability.

Interplanetary magnetic field control of drifts and anisotropy of high-latitude irregularities

Recently, much attention has been focused on the control exerted by the north-south component of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) on the nature of large-scale plasma structures in the polar cap ionosphere. In this paper we investigate whether the above IMF control also extends to the small-scale irregularities of plasma density associated with the large-scale structures. For this purpose, we have performed spaced-receiver scintillation measurements at Thule and Sondrestrom, Greenland, using the 250-MHz transmissions from quasi-geostationary polar beacon satellites. Under IMF Bz northward conditions, moderate levels of amplitude (S4 < 0.6) and phase scintillations are observed with highly variable decorrelation times. Spaced-receiver drifts under this situation show dramatic reversals of the true drift of the diffraction pattern from antisunward to sunward with moderate values of the axial ratio ranging between 4 and 12. For southward Bz we detect, in the central polar cap, a series of large magnitude scintillation (S4 ∼ 1) structures drifting at speeds of the order of 500 m s−1 in the antisunward direction indicating the passage of large-scale ionization structures in the F region. In these cases the apparent drift speed of the diffraction pattern can only be determined as the pattern on ground is highly anisotropic (axial ratios 15 to 40) which makes it difficult to determine the true drift velocity. However, with suitable orientation of our antenna baseline we find that the apparent drift gives a fair estimate of the actual velocity. We also demonstrate that when these irregularities associated with the ionization patches in the F region transit across the polar cap and are observed at Sondrestrom, in conjunction with underlying E region ionization caused by auroral particle precipitation (as sensed by simultaneous incoherent scatter radar measurements of densities and temperatures), the irregularity anisotropy is much reduced. This reduction of anisotropy is possibly a result of increased cross-field diffusion due to coupling with the E region having enhanced density. The true drift of the diffraction pattern measured at Sondrestrom on one evening agrees remarkably well with the simultaneous incoherent scatter radar measurements of F region plasma drifts, both sets of drifts showing equatorward and eastward motion varying between 0.5 and 1 km s−1.