Study of TEC changes during geomagnetic storms occurred near the crest of the equatorial ionospheric ionization anomaly in the Indian sector

GPS satellites data obtained at Bhopal (23.16° N, 77.36° E, geomagnetic latitude 14.23° N) India were analyzed to study the TEC changes during several geomagnetic storms (−300 nT < Dst < −50 nT) occurred in 2005–2007. We had segregated the storms according to the Dst value, i.e. moderate storms (−100 nT < Dst ? −50 nT), strong storms (−150 nT < Dst < −100 nT), and severe storms (Dst less than −150 nT). Total of 21 geomagnetic storms (10 moderate, 9 strong, 2 severe) are considered for the present study. Deviation in vertical total electron content (VTEC) during the main phase of the storm was found to be associated with the prompt penetration of electric field originated due to the under-shielding and over-shielding conditions for almost all geomagnetic storms discussed in this paper. For most of the storms VTEC shows the positive percentage deviation during the main phase while it shows positive as well as the negative deviation during the recovery phase of the storms. The −80% deviation in VTEC was found for geomagnetic storm occurred on July 17, 2005 and the negative trend continued for recovery phase of the storm. This was mainly due to the thermospheric composition changes by Joule heating effect at auroral latitudes that generate electric field disturbance at low latitudes. Traveling ionospheric disturbances (TIDs) were responsible for the formation of wave like nature in VTEC for the storms occurred on May 15, 2005, whereas it was not observed for storm occurred on August 24, 2005.     

An investigation of ionospheric disturbances over South Africa during the magnetic storm on 15 May 2005

The effects of the 15 May 2005 severe geomagnetic storm on the South African ionosphere are studied using ground-based and satellite observations. Ionospheric disturbances have less frequently been investigated over mid-latitude regions. Recently, a number of studies investigated their evolution and generation over these regions. This paper reports on the first investigation of travelling ionospheric disturbances (TIDs) over mid-latitude South Africa. Using global positioning system (GPS)-derived total electron content (TEC) variations from the South African network of dual frequency GPS receivers, we were able to examine the effects of the disturbance on the TEC. During this storm, two TEC enhancements were observed at low- and mid-latitudes: the first enhancement was observed between 30–45°S geomagnetic latitudes associated with equatorward neutral winds and the passage of a TID, while the second TEC enhancement is associated with a second TID. In addition, the F-region critical frequency (foF2) values observed at two ionosonde stations show response features that differ from those of the TEC during the disturbance period. The dissimilarity between the TEC and the foF2 suggests that two competing drivers may have existed, i.e., the westward electric field and equatorward neutral wind effects.     

The impact of large solar events on the total electron content of the ionosphere at mid latitudes

Ionospheric disturbances associated with solar activity may occur via two basic mechanisms. The first is related to the direct impact on the ionosphere of EUV photons from a flare, and the second by prompt electric field penetration into the magnetosphere during geomagnetic storms. In this paper we examine the possibility that these two mechanisms may have an impact at mid latitudes by calculating the total electron content (TEC) from GPS stations in Mexico during several large X-ray flares. We have found that indeed large, complex flares, which are well located, may affect the mid latitude ionosphere. In fact, in the solar events of July 14, 2000 and April 2001 storms, ionospheric disturbances were observed to increase up to 138 and 150 TECu, respectively, due to the influence of EUV photons. Also, during the solar events of July 2000, April 2001, Halloween 2003, January 2005 and December 2006, there are large ionospheric disturbances (up to 393 TECu in the Halloween Storms), due to prompt penetration electric field, associated with CME producing geomagnetic storm.     

Time delay of ionospheric TEC storms to geomagnetic storms and pre-storm disturbance events in East Asia

Using the TEC data at Beijing (39.61°N, 115.89°E)/Yakutsk (62.03°N, 129.68°E) stations of East Asia regions and relevant geomagnetic data from 2010 to 2017, we have studied the time delay of ionospheric storms to geomagnetic storms and compare it with our previous results of Taoyuan (25.02°N, 121.21°E) station (Zhang et al., 2020). The data shows a well-known local time dependence of the time delay, and seasonal dependences are different at these stations. In addition, there is no correlation between the time delay and the magnetic storm intensity /solar activity, except the time delay of negative storms has weakly negative dependence on the solar activity. Comparing with the results of Taoyuan station which is located at EIA region in East Asia, we find that the time delay increases nonlinearly as the latitude decreases due to different ionospheric backgrounds at these places. Moreover, the pre-storm disturbance events are found to have similar statistical characteristics as the pre-storm enhancement in Europe middle latitudes (Bure?ová and La?tovi?ka, 2007). By subtracting the common features of the pre-storm disturbance events, we preliminarily infer that auroral activity might be main driver of the pre-storm disturbance events.     

On high-altitude electric fields in the auroral downward current region and their coupling to ionospheric electric fields

The downward field-aligned current region plays an active role in magnetosphere–ionosphere coupling processes associated with aurora. A quasi-static electric field structure with a downward parallel electric field forms at altitudes between 800 km and 5000 km, accelerating ionospheric electrons upward, away from the auroral ionosphere. Other phenomena including energetic ion conics, electron solitary waves, low-frequency wave activity, and plasma density cavities occur in this region, which also acts as a source region for VLF saucers. Results are presented from high-altitude Cluster observations with particular emphasis on the characteristics and dynamics of quasi-static electric field structures. These, extending up to altitudes of at least 4–5 Earth radii, appear commonly as monopolar or bipolar electric fields. The former occur at sharp boundaries, such as the polar cap boundary whereas the bipolar fields occur at softer boundaries within the plasma sheet. The temporal evolution of quasi-static electric field structures, as captured by the pearls-on-a-string configuration of the Cluster spacecraft, indicates that the formation of electric field structures and of ionospheric plasma density cavities are closely coupled processes. A related feature of the downward current is a broadening of the current sheet with time, possibly related to the depletion process. Preliminary studies of the coupling of electric fields in the downward current region, show that small-scale structures are typically decoupled from the ionosphere, similar to what has been found for the upward current region. However, exceptions are also found where small-scale electric fields couple perfectly between the ionosphere and Cluster altitudes. Recent FAST results indicate that the degree of coupling differs between sheet-like and curved structures, and that it is typically partial. The electric field coupling further depends on the current–voltage relationship, which is highly non-linear in the downward current region, and still unrevealed, as to its specific form.     

Statistical study of the time delay of ionospheric TEC storms to geomagnetic storms in Taoyuan,Taiwan

We have studied the time delay of ionospheric storms to geomagnetic storms at a low latitude station Taoyuan (25.02°N, 121.21°E), Taiwan using the Dst and TEC data during 126 geomagnetic storms from the year 2002 to 2014. In addition to the known local time dependence of the time delay, the statistics show that the time delay has significant seasonal characteristics, which can be explained within the framework of the seasonal characteristics of the ionospheric TEC. The data also show that there is no correlation between the time delay and the intensity of magnetic storms. As for the solar activity dependence of the time delay, the results show that there is no relationship between the time delay of positive storms and the solar activity, whereas the time delay of negative storms has weakly negative dependence on the solar activity, with correlation coefficient −0.41. Especially, there are two kinds of extreme events: pre-storm response events and long-time delay events. All of the pre-storm response events occurred during 15–20 LT, manifesting the Equator Ionospheric Anomaly (EIA) feature at Taoyuan. Moreover, the common features of the pre-storm response events suggest the storm sudden commencement (SSC) and weak geomagnetic disturbance before the main phase onset (MPO) of magnetic storms are two main possible causes of the pre-storm response events. By analyzing the geomagnetic indices during the events with long-time delay, we infer that this kind of events may not be caused by magnetic storms, and they might belong to ionospheric Q-disturbances.     

Temporal evolution analysis of storm-enhanced density during an intense magnetic storm on March 2015

An intense Storm Enhancement Density (SED) event with the magnetic storm occurred on 17–24 March 2015 has been investigated. The morphological character of the SED during different phase of the magnetic storm is examined and compared with the non-storm time. Three intensity indexes, i.e., “general” SED index, “heavy” SED index and “severe” SED index, are defined to represent the intensity of SED respectively represented by the numbers of the ionospheric total electron content (TEC) grids with TEC > 60 TECu, TEC > 80 TECu and TEC > 100 TECu. The temporal evolution of the SED intensity indexes during a time span covering the non-storm time and the magnetic storm time have also been investigated. The SED exhibits a shape with two parallel slender troughs in the middle and low latitudes during the non-storm time and then gradually develops into an ellipse structure as the development of magnetic storm. The intensity of SED and the fluctuation of the TEC evolution are generally corresponding to the fluctuation of Dst index. The analyzing results enrich our understanding of the temporal and spatial evolution of the ionospheric SED.     

Low-latitude geomagnetic response to the interplanetary conditions during very intense magnetic storms

The variations in the horizontal and declination components of the geomagnetic field in response to the interplanetary shocks driven by fast halo coronal mass ejections, fast solar wind streams from the coronal hole regions and the dynamic pressure pulses associated with these events are studied. Close association between the field-aligned current density (j_∥) and the fluctuations in the declination component (ΔD_ABG) at Alibag is found for intense storm conditions. Increase in the dawn-dusk interplanetary electric field (E_y) and ΔD_ABG are generally in phase. However, when the magnetospheric electric field is directed from dusk to dawn direction, a prominent scatter occurs between the two. It is suggested that low-latitude ground magnetic data may serve as a proxy for the interplanetary conditions in the solar wind.     

Symmetry and asymmetry of ionospheric weather at magnetic conjugate points for two midlatitude observatories

Variations of the ionospheric weather W-index for two midlatitude observatories, namely, Grahamstown and Hermanus, and their conjugate counterpart locations in Africa are studied for a period from October 2010 to December 2011. The observatories are located in the longitude sector, which has consistent magnetic equator and geographic equator so that geomagnetic latitudes of the line of force are very close to the corresponding geographic latitudes providing opportunity to ignore the impact of the difference of the gravitational field and the geomagnetic field at the conjugate points on the ionosphere structure and dynamics. The ionosondes of Grahamstown and Hermanus provide data of the critical frequency (foF2), and Global Ionospheric Maps (GIM) provide the total electron content (TECgps) along the magnetic field line up to the conjugate point in the opposite hemisphere. The global model of the ionosphere, International Reference Ionosphere, extended to the plasmasphere altitude of 20,200 km (IRI-Plas) is used to deliver the F2 layer peak parameters from TECgps at the magnetic conjugate area. The evidence is obtained that the electron gas heated by day and cooled by night at the summer hemisphere as compared with the opposite features in the conjugate winter hemisphere testifies on a reversal of plasma fluxes along the magnetic field line by the solar terminator. The ionospheric weather W-index is derived from NmF2 (related with foF2) and TECgps data. It is found that symmetry of W-index behavior in the magnetic conjugate hemispheres is dominant for the equinoxes when plasma movement along the magnetic line of force is imposed on symmetrical background electron density and electron content. Asymmetry of the ionospheric storm effects is observed for solstices when the plasma diffuse down more slowly into the colder winter hemisphere than into the warmer summer hemisphere inducing either plasma increase (positive phase) or decrease (negative phase of W-index) in the ionospheric and plasmaspheric plasma density.     

Longitudinal variations of geomagnetic and ionospheric parameters in the Northern Hemisphere during magnetic storms according to multi-instrument observations

We present a joint analysis of longitude-temporal variations of ionospheric and geomagnetic parameters at middle and high latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere during the two severe magnetic storms in March and June 2015 by using data from the chains of magnetometers, ionosondes and GPS/GLONASS receivers. We identify the fixed longitudinal zones where the variability of the magnetic field is consistently high or low under quiet and disturbed geomagnetic conditions. The revealed longitudinal structure of the geomagnetic field variability in quiet geomagnetic conditions is caused by the discrepancy of the geographic and magnetic poles and by the spatial anomalies of different scales in the main magnetic field of the Earth. Variations of ionospheric parameters are shown to exhibit a pronounced longitudinal inhomogeneity with changing geomagnetic conditions. This inhomogeneity is associated with the longitudinal features of background and disturbed structure of the geomagnetic field. During the recovery phase of a storm, important role in dynamics of the mid-latitude ionosphere may belong to wave-like thermospheric disturbances of molecular gas, propagating westward for several days. Therefore, it is necessary to extend the time interval for studying the ionospheric effects of strong magnetic storms by a few days after the end of the magnetospheric source influence, while the disturbed regions in the thermosphere continues moving westward and causes the electron density decrease along the trajectories of propagation.     

Local-time variations of geomagnetic disturbances during intense geomagnetic storms and possible association with their interplanetary causes

In the present paper the local-time variations in the disturbance of the geomagnetic-field horizontal component (H) for eight intense geomagnetic storms that occurred during the descending phase of solar cycle 23 have been analyzed. The study was based on the plot of contour lines of the H-depletion intensity in the plane local time versus universal time (LT–UT maps) with the objective of observing how the morphology and evolution of the ring current is mapped into the surface of the Earth in presence of intense geomagnetic storms.     

磁暴期间中国中低纬电离层不规则体与扰动分析

2017年9月8日发生了一次强磁暴,Kp指数最大值达到8.利用区域电离层格网模型（Regional Ionosphere Map,RIM）和区域ROTI（Rate of TEC Index）地图,分析了磁暴期间中国及其周边地区电离层TEC扰动特征和低纬地区电离层不规则体的产生与发展情况,同时利用不同纬度IGS（International GNSS Service）测站BJFS（39.6°N,115.9°E）,JFNG（30.5°N,114.5°E）和HKWS（22.4°N,114.3°E）的GPS双频观测值,获取各测站的ROTI和DROT（Standard Deviation of Differential ROT）指数变化趋势.结果表明:此次磁暴发生期间电离层扰动先以正相扰动为主,主要发生在中低纬区域,dTEC（differential TEC）最大值达到14.9TECU,随后电离层正相扰动逐渐衰减,在低纬区域发生电离层负相扰动,dTEC最小值达到-7.2TECU;在12:30UT-13:30UT时段,中国南部低纬地区发生明显的电离层不规则体事件;相比BJFS和JFNG两个测站,位于低纬的HKWS测站的ROTI和DROT指数变化更为剧烈,这表明电离层不规则体结构存在纬度差异.     

Change in refractivity of the atmosphere and large variation in TEC associated with some earthquakes,observed from GPS receiver

The present study reports the analysis of GPS based TEC for our station Surat (21.16°N, 72.78°E) located at the northern crest of equatorial anomaly region in India at times close to some earthquake events (M ? 5) during the year 2009 in India and its neighbouring regions. The TEC data used in the study are obtained from GPS Ionospheric Scintillation and TEC Monitoring (GISTM) system. The TEC data has been analysed corresponding to 11 earthquakes in low solar activity period and quiet geomagnetic condition. We found that, out of 11 cases of earthquakes (M > 5) there were seven cases in which enhancement in TEC occurred on earthquake day and in other four cases there was depletion in TEC on earthquake day. The variation in refractivity prior to earthquake was significant for the cases in which the epicentre lied within a distance of 600 km from the receiving station. By looking into the features on temporal enhancement and depletion of TEC a prediction was made 3–2 days prior to an earthquake (on 28 October 2009 in Bhuj – India). The paper includes a brief discussion on the method of potentially identifying an impending earthquake from ionospheric data.     

Comparison of model and experimental ionospheric parameters at high latitudes

Modern use and study of the auroral region needs to attract a wider class of models for describing conditions of radio wave propagation in the ionosphere. In this paper the possibilities of the International Reference Ionosphere model, well-proven and widespread in the mid-latitudes, are investigated in the high latitude zone. Model and measured values of the critical frequency foF2 for two mid-latitude stations (Juliusruh and Goosebay) and four high-latitude ones (Loparskaya, Sodankyla, Sondrestrom, Thule) are compared. Deviations of medians, variations from day to day and solar activity trends seemed to be similar for both areas. This similarity is irrespective of the RZ12 index. Special attention is paid to the TEC parameter and its determination using 6 versions of models, a new version of the model IRI2010 (IRI-Plas) among them. It is shown that the IRI-Plas model significantly improves the definition of TEC in contrast to the versions of IRI2007 and the new model NeQuick. The use of the median of the experimental equivalent slab thickness, together with the current values of the TEC, increases by a factor of two the agreement between calculated and measured foF2 values as compared with the variations from day to day. This allows foF2 to be defined in near-real time.     

Improvement of the real time total electron content based on the International Reference Ionosphere model

One of the methods to adapt the International Reference Ionosphere model to real time conditions is to use instantaneous values of the critical frequency of the ionosphere foF2. It is shown that there can be large discrepancies between model and experimental values of the total electron content TEC after this adaptation. Improvement can be provided by the use of an empirical model of the ionospheric slab thickness τ. This conclusion is based on analysis of contributions of various correction factors connected with foF2 and τ into discrepancies between model and experimental values of TEC.     

Near real-time PPP-based monitoring of the ionosphere using dual-frequency GPS/BDS/Galileo data

Ionosphere delay is very important to GNSS observations, since it is one of the main error sources which have to be mitigated even eliminated in order to determine reliable and precise positions. The ionosphere is a dispersive medium to radio signal, so the value of the group delay or phase advance of GNSS radio signal depends on the signal frequency. Ground-based GNSS stations have been used for ionosphere monitoring and modeling for a long time. In this paper we will introduce a novel approach suitable for single-receiver operation based on the precise point positioning (PPP) technique. One of the main characteristic is that only carrier-phase observations are used to avoid particular effects of pseudorange observations. The technique consists of introducing ionosphere ambiguity parameters obtained from PPP filter into the geometry-free combination of observations to estimate ionospheric delays. Observational data from stations that are capable of tracking the GPS/BDS/GALILEO from the International GNSS Service (IGS) Multi-GNSS Experiments (MGEX) network are processed. For the purpose of performance validation, ionospheric delays series derived from the novel approach are compared with the global ionospheric map (GIM) from Ionospheric Associate Analysis Centers (IAACs). The results are encouraging and offer potential solutions to the near real-time ionosphere monitoring.     

Traveling ionospheric disturbances observed at South African midlatitudes during the 29–31 October 2003 geomagnetically disturbed period

This paper presents traveling ionospheric disturbances (TIDs) observations from GPS measurements over the South African region during the geomagnetically disturbed period of 29–31 October 2003. Two receiver arrays, which were along two distinct longitudinal sectors of about 18°-20° and 27°-28° were used in order to investigate the amplitude, periods and virtual propagation characteristics of the storm induced ionospheric disturbances. The study revealed a large sudden TEC increase on 28 October 2003, the day before the first of the two major storms studied here, that was recorded simultaneously by all the receivers used. This pre-storm enhancement was linked to an X-class solar flare, auroral/magnetospheric activities and vertical plasma drift, based on the behaviour of the geomagnetic storm and auroral indices as well as strong equatorial electrojet. Diurnal trends of the TEC and foF2 measurements revealed that the geomagnetic storm caused a negative ionospheric storm; these parameters were depleted between 29 and 31 October 2003. Large scale traveling ionospheric disturbances were observed on the days of the geomagnetic storms (29 and 31 October 2003), using line-of-sight vertical TEC (vTEC) measurements from individual satellites. Amplitude and dominant periods of these structures varied between 0.08–2.16 TECU, and 1.07–2.13 h respectively. The wave structures were observed to propagate towards the equator with velocities between 587.04 and 1635.09 m/s.     

GPS scintillation and TEC depletion near the northern crest of equatorial anomaly over South China

This study presents a statistical analysis of GPS L-band scintillation with data observed from July 2008 to March 2012 at the northern crest of equatorial anomaly stations in Guangzhou and Shenzhen of South China. The variations of the scintillation with local time, season, solar activity and duration of scintillation patches were investigated. The relationship between the scintillation and TEC depletion was also reported. Our results revealed that GPS scintillation occurred from 19:30 LT (pre-midnight) to 03:00 LT (post-midnight). During quiet solar activity years, the scintillation was only observed in pre-midnight hours of equinox months and patches durations were mostly less than 60 min. During high solar activity years, more scintillation occurred in the pre-midnight hours of equinox and winter months; and GPS scintillation started to occur in the post-midnight hours of summer and winter. The duration of scintillation patches extended to 180 min in high solar activity years. Solar activity had a larger effect to strong scintillations (S₄ > 0.6) than to weak scintillations (0.6 ? S₄ > 0.2). Strong scintillations were accompanied by TEC depletion especially in equinox months. We also discussed the relationship between TEC depletion and plasma bubble.     

基于IGS电离层TEC格网的扰动特征统计分析

电离层总电子含量（TEC）是研究空间天气特性的重要参量,通过分析电离层TEC,可以了解空间环境的变化特征.利用IGS提供的1999—2016年全球电离层TEC格网数据,按照地磁纬度将全球划分为高、中、中低、低磁纬四个区域,计算不同区域的电离层扰动;利用大量统计数据选取电离层扰动事件的判定阈值,分析电离层扰动与太阳活动、时空之间的关系;计算电离层扰动指数与地磁活动之间的相关系数.结果显示：电离层扰动与太阳活动变化具有较强的正相关特性.在太阳活动低年,电离层扰动事件发生的概率约为1.79%,在太阳活动高年发生扰动的概率约为10.18%.在空间分布上,无论是太阳活动高年还是低年,高磁纬地区发生扰动事件的概率均大于其他磁纬出现扰动事件的概率.计算得到的中磁纬和中低磁纬地区电离层扰动指数与全球地磁指数Ap的相关系数分别为0.57和0.56,说明电离层扰动指数与Ap具有较好的相关关系;高磁纬电离层扰动指数与Ap的相关系数为0.44;低磁纬扰动指数与Ap的相关系数为0.39.以上结果表明,不同区域电离层扰动与全球地磁指数Ap的相关性不同,测定区域地磁指数可能会提高与电离层扰动的相关性.     

Large-scale traveling ionospheric disturbances of auroral origin according to the data of the GPS network and ionosondes

The intensity of large-scale traveling ionospheric disturbances (LS TIDs), registered using measurements of total electron content (TEC) during the magnetic storms on October 29–31, 2003, and on November 7–11, 2004, had been compared with that of local electron density disturbances. The data of TEC measurements at ground-based GPS receivers located near the ionospheric stations and the corresponding values of the critical frequency of the ionospheric F region f_oF2 were used for this purpose. The variations of TEC and f_oF2 were similar for all events mentioned above. The previous assumption that the ionospheric region with vertical extension from 150 to 200 km located near the F-layer maximum mainly contributes to the TEC variations was confirmed for the cases when the electron density disturbance at the F region maximum was not more than 50%. However, this region probably becomes vertically more extended when the electron density disturbance in the ionospheric F region is about 85%.