DEMETER and DMSP satellite observations of the disturbed H/O ratio caused by Earth’s seismic activity in the Sumatra area during December 2004

In the present paper, plasma probe data taken from DEMETER and DMSP-F15 satellites were used to study the ion density and temperature disturbances in the morning topside ionosphere, caused by seismic activity at low latitudes. French DEMETER (Detection of Electro-Magnetic Emissions Transmitted from Earthquake Regions) micro-satellite mission had been especially designed to provide global scale observations in the topside ionosphere over seismically active regions. Onboard the DEMETER satellite, the thermal plasma instrument called “Instrument Analyser de Plasma” (IAP) provides ion mass and densities, ion temperature, three component ion drift and ion density irregularities measurements. As a part of “Defense Meteorological Satellite Program”, DMSP-F15 satellite is on orbit operation since 1999. It provides ionospheric plasma diagnostics by means of the “Special Sensor-Ion, Electron and Scintillations” (SSIES-2) instrument. We examined few examples of possible seismic effects in the equatorial ionosphere, probably associated with seismic activity during December month in the area of Sumatra Island, including main shock of giant Sumatra event. It is found that the localized topside ionospheric disturbances appear close to the epicenters of certain earthquakes in the Sumatra region. In two cases, ion H⁺/O⁺ ratio rises more than one hour before the main shock, due to the O⁺ density decrease at the winter side of the geomagnetic equator, with longitudinally closest location to the epicenter of the earthquakes. These anomalous depletions in O⁺ density do exist in all cases of SSIES-2 data. Particularly for Sumatra main event, more than one hour after the main shock, we observe large-scale depletion in O⁺ density northward of the geomagnetic equator at winter side hemisphere. Associated with O⁺ depletion, ion temperature latitudinal profile around the geomagnetic equator shows enhanced asymmetry with minimum at the summer side and maximum in positive Ti deviation from mean value at the winter side. This disturbance lasted for more than three hours, later in time observed at the same place by IAP/DEMETER.     

Acceleration of energetic particles by whistler waves in active space experiment with charged particle beams injection

In this paper the investigation of wave-particle interaction during simultaneous injection of electron and xenon ion beams from the satellite Intercosmos-25 (IK-25) carried out using the data of the double satellite system with subsatellite Magion-3 (APEX). Results of active space experiment devoted to the beam-plasma instability are partially presented in the paper Baranets et al. (2007). A specific feature of the experiment carried out in orbits 201, 202 was that charged particle flows were injected in the same direction along the magnetic field lines B₀ so the oblique beam-into-beam injection have been produced. Results of the beam-plasma interaction for this configuration were registered by scientific instruments mounted on the station IK-25 and Magion-3 subsatellite. Main attention is paid to study the electromagnetic and longitudinal waves excitation in different frequency ranges and the energetic electron fluxes disturbed due to wave-particle interaction with whistler waves. The whistler wave excitation on the 1st electron cyclotron harmonic via normal Doppler effect during electron beam injection in ionospheric plasma are considered.     

Satellite monitoring of anomalous effects in the ionosphere probably related to strong earthquakes

The paper presents simultaneously a satellite monitoring of plasma density disturbances and quasi-static electric fields on the one hand, and a ground earthquake monitoring, on the other. The INTERCOSMOS-BULGARIA-1300 satellite was launched on 7th August 1981. It had a perigee of 825 km, an apogee of 906 km and orbit inclination of 81.2°. For satellite’s orbits over sources of earthquakes M ⩾ 5.5 (seismic data of the World Data Center – Denver, Colorado), in the time period 12.08.1981–30.12.1981, some ionospheric effects are investigated. These effects can be considered eventually as possible earthquake precursors. The paper discusses specific anomalous effects observed in the ionosphere, which cannot be explained by factors of solar-magnetospheric origin. They could be associated with the earthquake growing processes in the lithosphere and troposphere zones above the source. In conclusion the results of ionosphere anomalous effects monitoring are proposed.     

Variations of ionospheric total electron content before three strong earthquakes in the Qinghai-Tibet region

We investigate the ionospheric total electron content (TEC) anomalies occurred in the Qinghai-Tibet region before three large earthquakes (M > 7.0). The temporal and spatial TEC variations were used to detect the ionospheric possible precursors of these earthquakes. We identified two TEC enhancements in the afternoon local time 9 days and 2–3 days before each earthquake, between which a TEC decrement occurred 3–6 days before earthquakes. These anomalies happened in the area of about 30° in latitude and the maximum is localized equatorward from the epicenters. These TEC anomalies can be found in all three earthquakes regardless the geomagnetic conditions. The features of these anomalies have something in common and may have differences from those caused by geomagnetic storms. Our results suggest that these ionospheric TEC perturbations may be precursors of the large earthquakes.     

强震前异常电场激发声重波对电离层的影响

震前地震孕育期地表异常增强的电场,通过大气电导率传输到电离层高度.该异常电场通过非稳态局部加热,可以在电离层高度激发声重波.基于该理论,利用一维时变中纬电离层物理模型,模拟了该扰动源对电离层电子密度的影响.结果表明,重力波引起的中性风速度扰动对电离层电子密度分布影响甚微,该机理无法解释震前电离层异常扰动现象.      

基于电子密度同化的热层大气密度预报方法

采用热层电离层耦合模式TIEGCM和集合卡尔曼滤波同化方法,利用同化COSMIC电离层掩星电子密度数据优化热层电离层参量,并将模式预报的大气密度与CHAMP卫星大气密度数据进行对比,分别开展模拟和实测数据的同化预报实验.在模拟数据同化实验中,状态向量包含温度、风场和离子成分的实验结果表明,仅优化温度即可达到最优的热层大气密度预报效果.在实测数据同化实验中,将温度作为状态向量参数,优化结果表明,循环同化过程中模式预报的大气密度相对偏差的均方根误差在48h内从38%减小到27%,同化稳定时间至少需要30h.预报过程中大气密度预报效果的改善持续时间为34h.这表明电子密度同化能够改善热层大气密度的预报精度,设计的实验方案合理可行,可获得较长的预报时效.      

Ionospheric perturbations in plasma parameters before global strong earthquakes

Based on the electron density (Ne) and temperature (Te) data from DEMETER, the ionospheric perturbations before 82 Ms ? 7.0 earthquakes (EQs) during 2005–2010 were studied, using moving median and space difference methods within 10 days before and 2 days after these events in local nighttime. It was found that the plasma parameters disturbances appeared before 49 EQs, in which more disturbances were detected before shallow-focus earthquakes than deep ones, and there was little difference between continental and oceanic ones, both exceeding 1/2 percentage. For the disturbed time, more perturbations were seen in 1, 3, 5, 6, 8 days before EQs and 1 day after EQs. For the spatial distribution, the anomalies before EQs were not just above the epicenters, but shifted equatorward with several degrees to almost twenty degrees. Most of the abnormities were positive ones, which demonstrate that Ne increases before EQs at the altitude of 670 km of DEMETER. Perturbations of Ne were more than that of Te, which illustrates that Ne is much more sensitive to seismic activity than Te.     

Development of a campaign to study equatorial ionospheric phenomena over Guam

The United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) is in the process of developing a series of ground-based and space-based experiments to investigate the equatorial ionosphere over Guam and the southern crest of the Equatorial Appleton Anomaly over New Guinea. On the ground the Digital Ionospheric Sounder (University of Massachusetts, Lowell DPS-4 unit) and a dual-frequency GPS TEC/scintillation monitor will be used to investigate ionospheric phenomena in both campaign and long-term survey modes. In campaign mode, we will combine these observations with those collected from space during USAFA’s FalconSAT-3 and FalconSAT-5 low Earth orbit satellite missions, which will be active over a period of several years beginning in the first quarter of the 2007 calendar year. Additionally, we will investigate the long-term morphology of key ionospheric characteristics useful for driving the International Reference Ionosphere, such as critical frequencies (f_oE, f_oF1, f_oF2, etc.), the M(3000) F2 parameter (the maximum useable frequency for a signal refracted within the F2 layer and received on the ground at a distance of 3000 km away), and a variety of other characteristics. Specific targets of investigation include: (a) a comparison of TEC observed by the GPS receiver with those calculated by IRI driven by DPS-4 observations, (b) a comparison of plasma turbulence observed on-orbit with ionospheric conditions as measured from the ground, and (c) a comparison between topside ionospheric satellite in situ measurements of plasma density during an overpass of a Digisonde versus the calculated value based on extrapolation of the electron density profiles using Digisonde data and a topside α-Chapman function. This last area of investigation is discussed in detail in this paper.     

Thermospheric heating at high latitudes as observed from intercosmos-Bulgaria-1300 and dynamics explorer-B

This paper reports the results of the first direct comparison of near simultaneous measurements obtained by the INTERCOSMOS-BULGARIA-1300 and the DYNAMICS EXPLORER-B satellites. The ICB-1300 is in a near circular orbit at a mean height of about 850 km. The DE-B satellite in an elliptical orbit is sometimes directly below the ICB-1300 satellite providing an opportunity to investigate the response of the thermosphere to particle fluxes from the magnetosphere. Energy fluxes in the range 0.2–15 keV are obtained from an energetic particle analyzer on board the ICB-1300 satellite. The thermospheric composition and density are obtained by a neutral gas mass spectrometer (NACS) on the DE-B satellite. During the period 20 August–20 November, 1981, observations show tht the times and locations of maxima in magnetospheric energy deposition coincide with regions of maximum thermospheric upwelling characterized by composition changes.     

磁暴期间中纬度电离层剖面结构变化的数值模拟

利用电离层理论模型模拟了磁暴期间热层大气温度、成分、中性风和电场扰动对电离层电子密度剖面结构，特别是峰值密度和峰值高度变化的影响，结果表明，热层大气温度变化所引起光化反应系数的改变对电离层剖面结构影响不大；热层大气成分特别是Ｎ２／Ｏ的变化能有效地引起密度剖面变化，Ｎ２增加足以使峰值密度产生所观测到的负相暴；由中性风和电场引起等离子体漂移是峰值高度ｈｍＦ２变化的主要原因，但对电子密度的影响不足以抵消     

The global response of terrestrial ionosphere to the December 2015 space weather event

This paper investigates the ionospheric storm of December 19–21, 2015, which was initiated by two successive CME eruptions that caused a G3 space weather event. We used the in situ electron density (N_e) and electron temperature (T_e) and the Total Electron Content (TEC) measurements from SWARM-A satellite, as well as the O/N₂ observations from TIMED/GUVI to study the ionospheric impact. The observations reveal the longitudinal and hemispherical differences in the ionospheric response to the storm event. A positive ionospheric storm was observed over the American, African and Asian regions on 20 December, and the next day showed a negative storm. Both these exhibited hemispheric differences. A positive storm was observed over the East Pacific region on 21 December. It is seen that the net effect of both the disturbance dynamo electric field and composition differences become important in explaining the observed variability in topside ionospheric densities. In addition, we also discuss the T_e variations that occurred as a consequence of the space weather event.     

Remote spacecraft observations of waves excited by the pulse electron beam injected into ionosphere

In the Apex project the modulated electron beam (pulses of 2 micro sec duration, E=8 keV, I=0.1 A and 25 micro sec repetition) was emitted from a main satellite. The RF emissions were observed in parallel on the mother satellite as well as on Magion-3 subsatellite. The paper discusses the case when the subsatellite was separated about 200 km from the main object and the electron gun was operated. Together with strong electrostatic emission at the upper hybrid plasma frequency on the main spacecraft, selected spikes in RF frequency range on Magion-3, were simultaneously detected, which can be related to pulse electron beam emission.     

在轨发动机射流的电离层效应

卫星等航天器在轨运行期间,通过喷气实现姿态控制、轨道调整等特定需求.喷气射流与电离层相互作用,能够引起电离层环境改变,对星载设备产生重要影响.通过研究航天器在轨发动机喷气射流在电离层中的动力学及化学反应过程,建立射流的电离层效应物理模型,模拟了不同射流量及高度条件下喷气射流的运动过程、密度分布及电离层扰动效应.仿真结果表明,相同高度下,随着射流量增加,电离层扰动效应逐渐增强;相同射流量条件下,随着高度增加,电离层扰动效应逐渐减弱,扰动区域逐渐扩大.      

雷暴云准静电场和夜间低电离层的电离

用点电荷模型计算雷暴云突然放电后形成的准静电后形成的准静电场随高度的分布，以E/N（E的电场大小，N为大气密度）为输入参量，在一定条件下，对Boltzmann方程数值求解，计算电离层电子数密度的扰动。计算结果表明，在约70-90km之间，在约放电后的10ms内，准静电场大于中性大气的击穿电场，将引起大气的雪崩电离，从而引起夜间低电离层电子密度的显著增加，但这种电子密度的增加是暂的，在很短的时期内就恢复到平静时的水平，恢复时间随高度的变化而不同。     

严格回归轨道的管道导航方法研究

分析了作为参考轨道的严格回归轨道与卫星在轨运行状态的相对运动关系,提出近地遥感卫星的管道导航方法。由于参考轨道的设计只考虑高精度的地球非球形摄动,与在轨卫星的动力学环境存在差别,这导致两者之间存在切航向漂移。基于高精度的轨道动力学模型和位置确定方法,设计了卫星与参考轨道采样点的沿航向对齐算法,从而获取了卫星相对参考轨道采样点的相位时间偏差和卫星在参考轨道编队坐标系切航向平面内的相对运动轨迹,进而引入椭圆的“最小二乘适配法”获取相对运动轨迹的特征量。所研究的管道导航方法可应用于基于GNSS测量数据的卫星自主轨迹保持。     

Main ionospheric trough studied from intercosmos-Bulgaria-1300

The main ionospheric trough is a phenomenon in the mid and high latitude ionosphere, characterized by an abrupt decrease of the electron and ion density and increase of the electron temperature. We here examine the behaviour of the trough for different geomagnetic conditions based on data from the Intercosmos-Bulgaria-1300 satellite. The dependence of the polar trough wall on the boundary of the soft electron precipitation from the plasma layer is shown, and a possible universal time dependence is examined.     

High-resolution, coupled thermosphere–ionosphere models for space weather applications

Current first-principles global models of the coupled thermosphere–ionosphere (T–I) system use grids that are too coarse to simulate the mesoscale and small-scale structures that occur in this complex system. These small-scale and mesoscale structures have a great effect on global-scale neutral and plasma distributions and have important consequences for daily space weather. In this paper, we present a new first-principles, high-resolution, T–I nested grid (TING) polar cap model that incorporates multiple nesting levels and two-way interaction. The TING model simulation of the electron densities and temperatures demonstrates the importance of high spatial resolution. It is found that both the mid-latitude electron density trough and its associated dawn electron temperature peak are more pronounced and structured in the nested grid than in the coarse grid. Using the TING model to simulate ionospheric F₂ region electron density variations with geomagnetic activity and universal time (UT) is also discussed.     

Regional 4-D modeling of the ionospheric electron density from satellite data and IRI

Accurate knowledge of the electron density is the key point in correcting ionospheric delays of electromagnetic measurements and in studying ionosphere physics. During the last decade Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) have become a promising tool for monitoring ionospheric parameters such as the total electron content (TEC). In this contribution we present a four-dimensional (4-D) model of the electron density consisting of a given reference part, i.e., the International Reference Ionosphere (IRI), and an unknown correction term expanded in terms of multi-dimensional base functions. The corresponding series coefficients are calculable from the satellite measurements by applying parameter estimation procedures. Since satellite data are usually sampled between GPS satellites and ground stations, finer structures of the electron density are modelable just in regions with a sufficient number of ground stations. The proposed method is applied to simulated geometry-free GPS phase measurements. The procedure can be used, for example, to study the equatorial anomaly.     

Statistical analysis of the ionospheric ion density recorded by DEMETER in the epicenter areas of earthquakes as well as in their magnetically conjugate point areas

Results of a statistical variation of total ion density observed in the vicinity of epicenters as well as around magnetically conjugated points of earthquakes are presented in this paper. Two data sets are used: the ion density measured by DEMETER during about 6.5?years and the list of strong earthquakes (M_W?≥?4.8) occurring globally during this period (14,764 earthquakes in total). First of all, ionospheric perturbations with 23–120?s observation time corresponding to spatial scales of 160–840?km are automatically detected by a software (64,287 anomalies in total). Second, it is checked if a perturbation could be associated either with the epicenter of an earthquake or with its magnetically conjugated point (distance?<?1500?km and time?<?15?days before the earthquake). The index Kp?<?3 is also considered in order to reduce the effect of the geomagnetic activity on the ionosphere during this period. The results show that it is possible to detect variations of the ionospheric parameters above the epicenter areas as well as above their conjugated points. About one third of the earthquakes are detected with ionospheric influence on both sides of the Earth. There is a trend showing that the perturbation length increases as the magnitude of the detected EQs but it is more obvious for large magnitude. The probability that a perturbation appears is higher on the day of the earthquake and then gradually decreases when the time before the earthquake increases. The spatial distribution of perturbations shows that the probability of perturbations appearing southeast of the epicenter before an earthquake is a little bit higher and that there is an obvious trend because perturbations appear west of the conjugated point of an earthquake.