Yaqi Jin

On the collocation of the cusp aurora and the GPS phase scintillation: A statistical study

The climatology map of the GPS phase scintillation identifies two regions of high scintillation occurrences: around magnetic noon and around magnetic midnight. The scintillation occurrence rate is higher around noon, while the scintillation level is stronger around magnetic midnight. This paper focuses on the dayside scintillation region. In order to resolve the role of the cusp auroral processes in the production of irregularities, we put the GPS phase scintillation in the context of the observed auroral morphology. Results show that the occurrence rate of the GPS phase scintillation is highest inside the auroral cusp, regardless of the scintillation strength and the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF). On average, the scintillation occurrence rate in the cusp region is about 5 times as high as in the region immediately poleward of it. The scintillation occurrence rate is higher when the IMF Bz is negative. When partitioning the scintillation data by the IMF By, the distribution of the scintillation occurrence rate around magnetic noon is similar to that of the poleward moving auroral form (PMAF): there is a higher occurrence rate at earlier (later) magnetic local time when the IMF By is positive (negative). This indicates that the irregularities which give rise to scintillations follow the IMF By-controlled east-west motion of the aurora and plasma. Furthermore, the scintillation occurrence rate is higher when IMF By is positive when the cusp is shifted toward the post noon sector where it may get easier access to the higher density plasma. This suggests that the combined auroral activities (e.g., PMAF) and the density of the intake solar EUV ionized plasma are crucial for the production of scintillations.

Statistical study of the GNSS phase scintillation associated with two types of auroral blobs

This study surveys space weather effects on GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) signals in the nighttime auroral and polar cap ionosphere using scintillation receivers, all-sky imagers, and the European Incoherent Scatter Svalbard radar. We differentiate between two types of auroral blobs: blob type 1 (BT 1) which is formed when islands of high-density F region plasma (polar cap patches) enter the nightside auroral oval, and blob type 2 (BT 2) which are generated locally in the auroral oval by intense particle precipitation. For BT 1 blobs we have studied 41.4 h of data between November 2010 and February 2014. We find that BT 1 blobs have significantly higher scintillation levels than their corresponding polar cap patch; however, there is no clear relationship between the scintillation levels of the preexisting polar cap patch and the resulting BT 1 blob. For BT 2 blobs we find that they are associated with much weaker scintillations than BT 1 blobs, based on 20 h of data. Compared to patches and BT 2 blobs, the significantly higher scintillation level for BT 1 blobs implies that auroral dynamics plays an important role in structuring of BT 1 blobs.

Interplanetary magnetic field and solar cycle dependence of Northern Hemisphere F region joule heating

Joule heating in the ionosphere takes place through collisions between ions and neutrals. Statistical maps of F region Joule heating in the Northern Hemisphere polar ionosphere are derived from satellite measurements of thermospheric wind and radar measurements of ionospheric ion convection. Persistent mesoscale heating is observed near postnoon and postmidnight magnetic local time and centered around 70° magnetic latitude in regions of strong relative ion and neutral drift. The magnitude of the Joule heating is found to be largest during solar maximum and for a southeast oriented interplanetary magnetic field. These conditions are consistent with stronger ion convection producing a larger relative flow between ions and neutrals. The global-scale Joule heating maps quantify persistent (in location) regions of heating that may be used to provide a broader context compared to small-scale studies of the coupling between the thermosphere and ionosphere.

Interhemispheric study of polar cap patch occurrence based on Swarm in situ data

The Swarm satellites offer an unprecedented opportunity for improving our knowledge about polar cap patches, which are regarded as the main space weather issue in the polar caps. We present a new robust algorithm that automatically detects polar cap patches using in situ plasma density data from Swarm. For both hemispheres, we compute the spatial and seasonal distributions of the patches identified separately by Swarm A and Swarm B between December 2013 and August 2016. We show a clear seasonal dependency of patch occurrence. In the Northern Hemisphere (NH), patches are essentially a winter phenomenon, as their occurrence rate is enhanced during local winter and very low during local summer. Although not as pronounced as in the NH, the same pattern is seen for the Southern Hemisphere (SH). Furthermore, the rate of polar cap patch detection is generally higher in the SH than in the NH, especially on the dayside at about 77° magnetic latitude. Additionally, we show that in the NH the number of patches is higher in the postnoon and prenoon sectors for interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) By 0, respectively, and that this trend is mirrored in the SH, consistent with the ionospheric flow convection. Overall, our results confirm previous studies in the NH, shed more light regarding the SH, and provide further insight into polar cap patch climatology. Along with this algorithm, we provide a large data set of patches automatically detected with in situ measurements, which opens new horizons in studies of polar cap phenomena.

GPS scintillations associated with cusp dynamics and polar cap patches

This paper investigates the relative scintillation level associated with cusp dynamics (including precipitation, flow shears, etc.) with and without the formation of polar cap patches around the cusp inflow region by the EISCAT Svalbard radar (ESR) and two GPS scintillation receivers. A series of polar cap patches were observed by the ESR between 8:40 and 10:20 UT on December 3, 2011. The polar cap patches combined with the auroral dynamics were associated with a significantly higher GPS phase scintillation level (up to 0.6 rad) than those observed for the other two alternatives, i.e., cusp dynamics without polar cap patches, and polar cap patches without cusp aurora. The cusp auroral dynamics without plasma patches were indeed related to GPS phase scintillations at a moderate level (up to 0.3 rad). The polar cap patches away from the active cusp were associated with sporadic and moderate GPS phase scintillations (up to 0.2 rad). The main conclusion is that the worst global navigation satellite system space weather events on the dayside occur when polar cap patches enter the polar cap and are subject to particle precipitation and flow shears, which is analogous to the nightside when polar cap patches exit the polar cap and enter the auroral oval.

Studies of small-scale plasma inhomogeneities in the cusp ionosphere using sounding rocket data

Microprocesses associated with plasma inhomogeneities are studied on the basis of data from the Investigation of Cusp Irregularities (ICI-3) sounding rocket. The ICI-3 rocket is devoted to investigating a reverse flow event in the cusp F region ionosphere. By numerical stability analysis, it is demonstrated that inhomogeneous-energy-density-driven (IEDD) instability can be a mechanism for the excitation of small-scale plasma inhomogeneities. The Local Intermittency Measure (LIM) method also applied the rocket data to analyze irregular structures of the electric field during rocket flight in the cusp. A qualitative agreement between high values of the growth rates of the IEDD instability and the regions with enhanced LIM is observed. This suggests that IEDD instability is connected to turbulent non-Gaussian processes.Microprocesses associated with plasma inhomogeneities are studied on the basis of data from the Investigation of Cusp Irregularities (ICI-3) sounding rocket. The ICI-3 rocket is devoted to investigating a reverse flow event in the cusp F region ionosphere. By numerical stability analysis, it is demonstrated that inhomogeneous-energy-density-driven (IEDD) instability can be a mechanism for the excitation of small-scale plasma inhomogeneities. The Local Intermittency Measure (LIM) method also applied the rocket data to analyze irregular structures of the electric field during rocket flight in the cusp. A qualitative agreement between high values of the growth rates of the IEDD instability and the regions with enhanced LIM is observed. This suggests that IEDD instability is connected to turbulent non-Gaussian processes.