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.     

Investigation into impact of tropical cyclones on the ionosphere using GPS sounding and NCEP/NCAR Reanalysis data

Ionospheric response to tropical cyclones (TCs) was estimated experimentally on the example of three powerful cyclones – KATRINA (23–31 August 2005), RITA (18–26 September 2005), and WILMA (15–25 October 2005). These TCs were active near the USA Atlantic coast. Investigation was based on Total Electron Content (TEC) data from the international network of two-frequency ground-based GPS receivers and the NCEP/NCAR Reanalysis data. We studied the spatial–temporal dynamics of wave TEC disturbances over two periods of ranges (02–20 min and 20–60 min). To select the ionospheric disturbances which were most likely to be associated with the cyclones, maps of TEC disturbances were compared with those of meteorological parameters.     

Tomographic reconstruction of the ionospheric electron density as a function of space and time

Electron density distribution is the major determining parameter of the ionosphere. Computerized Ionospheric Tomography (CIT) is a method to reconstruct ionospheric electron density image by computing Total Electron Content (TEC) values from the recorded Global Positioning Satellite System (GPS) signals. Due to the multi-scale variability of the ionosphere and inherent biases and errors in the computation of TEC, CIT constitutes an underdetermined ill-posed inverse problem. In this study, a novel Singular Value Decomposition (SVD) based CIT reconstruction technique is proposed for the imaging of electron density in both space (latitude, longitude, altitude) and time. The underlying model is obtained from International Reference Ionosphere (IRI) and the necessary measurements are obtained from earth based and satellite based GPS recordings. Based on the IRI-2007 model, a basis is formed by SVD for the required location and the time of interest. Selecting the first few basis vectors corresponding to the most significant singular values, the 3-D CIT is formulated as a weighted least squares estimation problem of the basis coefficients. By providing significant regularization to the tomographic inversion problem with limited projections, the proposed technique provides robust and reliable 3-D reconstructions of ionospheric electron density.     

海南地区电离层不规则体纬向漂移速度的观测和研究

根据中国海南富克(19.3°N,109.1°E)三点GPS观测系统2007年3月至11月的观测数据,利用互相关方法分析了三站闪烁信号的时间延迟,得出了不规则体纬向漂移的基本特征.在中国海南地区,闪烁主要发生在春秋季节,夜间不规则体的纬向漂移速度以东向为主,大小在50～150 m/s之间;平均东向漂移速度随时间呈下降趋势.另外,在闪烁刚发生时,不规则体纬向速度起伏较大,这可能与不规则体的随机起伏以及等离子体泡产生时垂直速度较大有关.中国海南地区不规则体纬向漂移速度的这些基本特征与低纬其他地区的测量结果较为一致.     

2006年4月5日中等强度磁暴期间观测到的大经度范围等离子体泡

利用分布在70°E～210°E和20°S～40°N之间的GPS台站的数据,分析了2006年4月5日夜间(中等强度磁暴期间)观测到的电离层等离子体泡的特性.结果表明,本次事件中,等离子体泡大约发生在当地日落后1～1.5 h;空间范围为经度90°E～160°E,纬度12°S～33°N.这是第一次利用地基设备观测到如此大经度范围内的等离子体泡.等离子体泡在南半球出现较早,并且存活时间较长.在其产生的过程中,在约1100 km高度上,映射到磁赤道向上的运动速度约为300m/s,并且等离子体泡在高度上有倾斜.东向电场的存在,对激发等离子体泡起到了一定的作用.      

武汉地区电离层TEC和NmF2及板厚的季节变化

通过利用武汉电离层观测站(114.4°E,30.6°N)1980-1990年对E8T-Ⅱ卫星信标的法拉第旋转测量的TEC(电子浓度总含量)数据,以及由测高仪测量的1980-1990年间的f0F2(F2层临界频率)数据,研究了武汉地区TEC,NmF2(最大电子浓度)和板厚的季节变化,同时比较了IRI和武汉单站模式在预测NmF2季节性方面的有效性.武汉单站模式在预测NmF2季节性变化方面优于IRI模式.      

利用RDSS系统测量数据提取电离层TEC参数的研究

提出了一种基于无线测定卫星业务(RDSS)系统观测数据提取电离层TEC参数的方法,利用此方法计算分析了2006年5月地面中心地区电离层垂向TEC的日变化趋势.研究结果表明,利用RDSS系统观测数据提取的电离层垂向TEC,在北京时间每日凌晨0400时左右达到最小值,在午后1400时左右达到最大值,符合电离层TEC参数受太阳活动影响较大的物理规律.结果说明研究方法是可行且有效的,文章还对可能存在的误差进行了探讨.      

GPS卫星信标信噪比的统计分析

GPS卫星信标信噪比(SNR)受到卫星上的发射机增益、地面站的接收机增益、卫星与接收机之间的几何距离、接收机处的仰角、信标传播路径上电离层介质衰减等因素的共同影响.首先提出了一种从SNR观测数据中分离出SNR在电离层中衰减的算法,并应用于MANA接收站(273.751°E,12.149°N)2003年的观测数据,得到了一个电离层介质引起的对L波段信标SNR衰减日变化的平均情况.通过与IRI模式计算的电波垂直穿过电离层时衰减的SNR比较发现,由我们得到的SNR在电波垂直穿过电离层时的衰减与IRI模式计算的衰减随地方时的变化符合得比较好.      

Ionospheric parameters in the European sector during the magnetic storm of August 25–26, 2018

Variations of ionospheric parameters Total Electron Content (TEC) by GNSS, critical frequency (foF2) by vertical sounding and electron density (Ne) by low-altitude satellite were studied at high, mid and low latitudes of the European sector during the magnetic storm of August 25–26, 2018. During the main phase of the storm the ionospheric F2-layer was under the positive disturbance at mid and low latitudes. Then the transition from the positive to negative ΔfoF2 values occurred at all latitudes. The recovery phase was characterized by negative ionospheric disturbance at all latitudes. This is due to the decrease of thermospheric O/N2 ratio during the recovery phase of the storm. The intense Es layers screened the reflections from the F2-layer on August 26th at high and at low latitudes but at different times. Some blackouts occurred due to the high absorption level at high latitudes. In general, foF2 and TEC data were highly correlated. The major Ne changes were at the low latitudes. In general, Ne data confirmed the ionospheric dynamics revealed with foF2 and TEC.