Yu-Zhang Ma

A comparison between large-scale irregularities and scintillations in the polar ionosphere

This work in China is supported by the National Basic Research Program (grant 2012CB825603), the National Natural Science Foundation (grants 41274149, 41274148, and 41574138), the Shandong Provincial Natural Science Foundation (grant JQ201412), and the young top-notch talent of “Ten Thousand Talent Program.” J. Moen is supported by the Research Council of Norway grant 230996. The work at Reading University was supported by STFC consolidated grant ST/M000885/1. SuperDARN is a collection of radars funded by national scientific funding agencies in Australia, Canada, China, France, Japan, South Africa, United Kingdom, and United States of America. M. Lester acknowledges support from STFC grant ST/K001000/1 and NERC grant NE/K011766/1. The GPS TEC acquisition effort is led by A. J. Coster at MIT Haystack Observatory. We thank the MIT Haystack Observatory for generating GPS TEC data and making them available through the Madrigal Database (http://madrigal.haystack.mit.edu/) and the University of New Brunswick for running CHAIN and providing scintillation data through database (http://chain.physics.unb.ca/chain/pages/gps/). We also acknowledge the NASA OMNIWeb for IMF and solar wind data (http://omniweb.gsfc.nasa.gov/html/sc_merge_data1.html), WDC C1, Kyoto for the AE/AL and SYM-H indices (http://wdc.kugi.kyoto-u.ac.jp/wdc/Sec3.html), and the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHU/APL) for providing online OVATION (http://sd-www.jhuapl.edu/Aurora/ovation/ovation_display.html).

Polar cap hot patches: Enhanced density structures different from the classical patches in the ionosphere

Based on in situ and ground-based observations, a new type of “polar cap hot patch” has been identified that is different from the classical polar cap enhanced density structure (cold patches). Comparing with the classical polar cap patches, which are transported from the dayside sunlit region with dense and cold plasma, the polar cap hot patches are associated with particle precipitations (therefore field-aligned currents), ion upflows, and flow shears. The hot patches may have the same order of density enhancement as classical patches in the topside ionosphere, suggesting that the hot patches may be produced by transported photoionization plasma into flow channels. Within the flow channels, the hot patches have low-energy particle precipitation and/or ion upflows associated with field-aligned currents and flow shears. Corresponding Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signal scintillation measurements indicate that hot patches may produce slightly stronger radio signal scintillation in the polar cap region than classical patches.

Observations and modeling of ionospheric scintillations at South Pole during six X‐class solar flares in 2013

Using two B-spline basis functions of degree 4 and the ionospheric scintillation data from a Global Positioning Satellite System (GPS) scintillation receiver at South Pole, we reproduced ionospheric scintillation indices for the periods of the six X-class solar flares in 2013. These reproduced indices have filled the data gaps, and they are serving as a smooth replica of the real observations. In either event, these modeled scintillation indices are minimizing the geometrical effects between GPS satellite and the receiver. Six X-class solar flares have been studied during the summer and winter months, using the produced scintillation indices based on the observations from the GPS receiver at South Pole and the in situ plasma measurement from the associated passing of Defense Meteorological Satellite Program. Our results show that the solar flare peak suppresses the scintillation level and builds time-independent scintillation patterns; however, after a certain time from the solar flare peak, complicated scintillation patterns develop at high-latitude ionosphere and spread toward the polar cap boundary region. Substantial consistency has been found between moderate proton fluxes and scintillation enhancement.

Conjugate Observations of the Evolution of Polar Cap Arcs in Both Hemispheres

We report results from the analysis of a case of conjugate polar cap arcs (PCAs) observed on February 5, 2006 in the northern hemisphere by the ground based Yellow River Station all-sky imager (Svalbard) and in both hemispheres by the space based DMSP/SSUSI and TIMED/GUVI instruments. The PCAs motion in dawn-dusk direction shows a clear dependence on the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) By component and presents a clear asymmetry between southern and northern hemispheres, i.e., formed on the duskside and moving from dusk to dawn in the northern hemisphere and vice versa in the other hemisphere. The already existing PCAs’ motion is influenced by the changes in the IMF By with a time delay of ~70 minutes. We also observed strong flow shears/reversals around the PCAs in both hemispheres. The precipitating particles observed in the ionosphere associated with PCAs showed properties of boundary layers plasma. Based on these observations, we might reasonably expect that the topological changes in the magnetotail can produce a strip of closed field lines and local processes would be set up conditions for the formation and evolution of PCAs.

Combined Contribution of Solar Illumination, Solar Activity, and Convection to Ion Upflow Above the Polar Cap

By analyzing a five-year period (2010–2014) of Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) plasma data, we investigated ion upflow occurrence, speed, density, and flux above the polar cap in the northern hemisphere under different solar zenith angle (SZA), solar activity (F10.7), and convection speed. Higher upflow occurrence rates in the dawn sector are associated with regions of higher convection speed, while higher upflow flux in the dusk sector is associated with higher density. The upflow occurrence increases with convection speed and solar activity but decreases with SZA. Upflow occurrence is the lowest when the SZA > 100° and the convection speeds are low. While, the upflow velocity and flux show a clear seasonal dependence with higher speed in the winter and higher flux in the summer during low convection conditions. However, they are detected for the first time to be both higher in summer during high convection conditions. These results suggest that ion upflow in the polar cap is controlled by the combination of convection, solar activity, and solar illumination.

Experimental Evidence on the Dependence of the Standard GPS Phase Scintillation Index on the Ionospheric Plasma Drift Around Noon Sector of the Polar Ionosphere

First experimental proof of a clear and strong dependence of the standard phase scintillation index (σφ) derived using Global Positioning System measurements on the ionospheric plasma flow around the noon sector of polar ionosphere is presented. σφ shows a strong linear dependence on the plasma drift speed measured by the Super Dual Auroral Radar Network radars, whereas the amplitude scintillation index (S4) does not. This observed dependence can be explained as a consequence of Fresnel frequency dependence of the relative drift and the used constant cutoff frequency (0.1 Hz) to detrend the data for obtaining standard σφ. The lack of dependence of S4 on the drift speed possibly eliminates the plasma instability mechanism(s) involved as a cause of the dependence. These observations further confirm that the standard phase scintillation index is much more sensitive to plasma flow; therefore, utmost care must be taken when identifying phase scintillation (diffractive phase variations) from refractive (deterministic) phase variations, especially in the polar region where the ionospheric plasma drift is much larger than in equatorial and midlatitude regions.

The Behaviors of Ionospheric Scintillations Around Different Types of Nightside Auroral Boundaries Seen at the Chinese Yellow River Station, Svalbard

Dynamical nightside auroral structures are often observed by the all sky imagers (ASI) at the Chinese Yellow River Station (CYRS) at Ny-Alesund, Svalbard, located in the polar cap near poleward edge of the nightside auroral oval. The boundaries of the nightside auroral oval are stable during quiet geomagnetic conditions, while they often expand poleward and pass through the overhead area of CYRS during the substorm expansion phase. The motions of these boundaries often give rise to strong disturbances of satellite navigations and communications. Two cases of these auroral boundary motions have been introduced to investigate their associated ionospheric scintillations: one is Fixed Boundary Auroral Emissions (FBAE) with stable and fixed auroral boundaries, and another is Bouncing Boundary Auroral Emissions (BBAE) with dynamical and largely expanding auroral boundaries. Our observations show that the auroral boundaries, identified from the sharp gradient of the auroral emission intensity from the ASI images, were clearly associated with ionospheric scintillations observed by Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) scintillation receiver at the CYRS. However, amplitude scintillation (S4) and phase scintillation (σφ) respond in an entirely different way in these two cases due to the different generation mechanism as well as different IMF (Interplanetary Magnetic Field) condition. S4 and σφ have similar levels around the FBAE, while σφ was much stronger than S4 around BBAE. The BBAE were associated with stronger particle precipitation during the substorm expansion phase. IU/IL, appeared to be a good indicator of the poleward moving auroral structures during the BBAE as well as FBAE.