Climatology of global,hemispheric and regional electron content variations during the solar cycles 23 and 24

We present the results of study on the variations of ionospheric total electron content (TEC) by using global, hemispheric, and regional electron contents computed from the global ionospheric maps (GIMs) for the period from 1999 to 2020. For a low and moderate solar activity, the global and regional electron contents vary linearly with solar 10.7 cm radio flux and EUV flux. While a saturation effect in the electron content verses EUV and F10.7 is found during the high solar activity periods at all regions, the maximum effect is observed at low-latitudes followed by high and mid-latitudes region. The extent of saturation effect is more pronounced for F10.7 as compared to EUV. A wavelet transform is applied to global and hemispheric electron contents to examine the relative strength of different variations. The semi-annual variations dominate in the northern hemisphere, whereas annual variations dominate in the southern counterpart. The amplitude of annual variations in southern hemisphere is found to be higher than northern counterpart at all latitudes. This asymmetry in the amplitude of annual variation is maximum at low-latitudes, followed by mid and high-latitudes, respectively. The semi-annual variations are in-phase in both hemisphere and follow the solar cycle. The northern hemisphere depicts relatively large amplitude of semi-annual variations and exhibit the maximum effect at high-latitudes.     

Variations of total electron content over high latitude region during the ascending phase of 24th solar cycle

The solar cycle variation and seasonal changes significantly affects the ionization process of earth’s ionosphere and required to be monitored in real time basis for regional level refinement of existing models. In view of this, the present study has been carried out by using the ionospheric Total Electron Content (TEC) data observed with the help of Global Ionospheric Scintillation and TEC monitoring (GISTM) system installed at Indian Antarctic Research Station, “Maitri” [70°46′00″S 11°43′56″E] during the ascending phase of 24th solar cycle. The daily values of solar extreme ultraviolet (EUV) flux (0.1–50?nm wavelength), 10.7?cm radio flux F_10.7 and Sunspot number (SSN) has been taken as a proxy to represent the solar cycle variation to correlate with TEC. The linear regression results revels better correlation of TEC with EUV flux rather than F_10.7 and SSN. Also, the EUV and TEC show better agreement during summer as compared to winter and equinox period. Correlation between TEC and EUV appears significantly noticeable during ten internationally defined quiet days of each month (stable background geophysical condition) as compared to the overall days (2010–2014). Further, saturation effect has been observed on TEC values during the solar maxima year 2014. The saturation effects are more prominent during the night hours of winter and equinox season due to transportation losses manifested by the equator-ward direction of meridional wind.     

Effects of X2-class solar flare events on ionospheric GPS-TEC and radio waves over Brazilian sector

In this investigation, we present and discuss the effects of 6 X2-class solar flare events in the ionospheric F region over Brazilian sector that occurred during 2013 to 2015. For this investigation, we present the vertical total electron content (VTEC) observations from nearly 120 Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers all over the Brazilian sector for each event. Also, ionospheric sounding observations obtained in São José dos Campos (23.2°S, 45.9°W, dip latitude 17.6°S; hereafter referred to as SJC), under the southern crest of the equatorial ionospheric anomaly (EIA), Brazil, are presented. The observations show that the greatest TEC impact occurs with the EUV fluxes increases lasting for more than one hour and when the solar active region is located close to the solar disc center. We present a detailed study of the efficiency of the EUV flux with wavelengths ranging from 0.1 to 190?nm for the F region ionization. The largest increase of ΔTEC occurs below the magnetic equator line, covering mainly the central, northeast, southeast and south regions, which includes the equatorial ionospheric anomaly (EIA) region. The ionograms show partial or total fade out in the echoes traces observed causing blackouts of radio signals of up to 60?min, which can have serious consequences to technological systems of public and private agencies around Brazilian sector. This study can help to better understand the effects of solar flares in the ionospheric F region.     

太阳活动对电离层TEC变化影响分析ormalsize

为研究太阳活动对电离层TEC变化的影响,从整体到局部分析了2000—2016年的太阳黑子数、太阳射电流量F_10.7指数日均值与电离层TEC的关系,并重点分析了2017年9月6日太阳爆发X9.3级特大耀斑前后15天太阳活动与电离层TEC变化的相关性.结果表明:由2000—2016年的数据整体看来,太阳黑子数、太阳F_10.7指数、TEC两两之间具有很强的整体相关性,但局部相关性强弱不均;此次耀斑爆发前后太阳黑子数、太阳F_10.7指数和TEC具有很强的正相关特性,太阳活动对TEC的影响时延约为2天;太阳活动对全球电离层TEC的影响不同步,从高纬至低纬约有1天的延迟,且对低纬度的影响远大于中高纬度.太阳活动是影响电离层TEC变化的主要原因,但局部也可能存在其他重要影响因素.      

Ionospheric effects of the solar flares as deduced from global GPS network data

Results derived from analysing the ionospheric response to faint and bright solar flares are presented. The analysis used novel technology of a global detection of ionospheric effects from solar flares as developed by the authors (Afraimovich, 2000a; Afraimovich, 2000b), on the basis of phase measurements of the total electron content (TEC) in the ionosphere using an international GPS network. The essence of the method is that use is made of appropriate filtering and a coherent processing of variations in the TEC which is determined from GPS data, simultaneously for the entire set of visible GPS satellites at all stations used in the analysis. This technique is useful for identifying the ionospheric response to faint solar flares (of X-ray class C) when the variation amplitude of the TEC response to separate line-on-sight (LOS) is comparable to the level of background fluctuations. The dependence of the TEC variation response amplitude on the flare location on the Sun is investigated.     

大耀斑期间向日面电离层总电子含量的响应个例分析

利用2001年4月15日1336UT耀斑爆发期间向日面GPS观测数据提取的总电子含量的时间变化曲线。分析了向日面电离层对这次耀斑的响应特点．结果表明，耀斑期间向日面电离层出现了总电子含量突增事件．最大总电子含量增加量约为2．6TECU，在0600LT和1800LT都观测到了总电子含量突增，世增加幅度仅为0．5-1TECU．在高纬地区，由于电离层闪烁，从TEC时间变化曲线提取不出来总电子含量增加值．从各卫星星下点处的TEC增加量和各星下点处的太阳天顶角的关系可以看到，TEC增加量与太阳天顶角有关，太阳天顶角越大，TEC增幅越小。另外，从总电子含量时间变化率曲线上还观测到了时间同步的小尺度扰动，通过与耀斑期间硬X射线辐射通量的比较，发现两者有明显的相关性，电离层中的这种扰动与耀斑期间的硬X射线或远紫外辐射有关．     

Distinct EUV minimum of the solar irradiance (16–40 nm) observed by SolACES spectrometers onboard the International Space Station (ISS) in August/September 2009

In the field of terrestrial climatology the continuous monitoring of the solar irradiance with highest possible accuracy is an important goal. SolACES as a part of the ESA mission SOLAR on the ISS is measuring the short-wavelength solar EUV irradiance from 16–150 nm. This data will be made available to the scientific community to investigate the impact of the solar irradiance variability on the Earth’s climate as well as the thermospheric/ionospheric interactions that are pursued in the TIGER program. Since the successful launch with the shuttle mission STS-122 on February 7th, 2008, SolACES initially recorded the low EUV irradiance during the extended solar activity minimum. Thereafter it has been observing the EUV irradiance during the increasing solar activity with enhanced intensity and changing spectral composition. SolACES consists of three grazing incidence planar grating spectrometers. In addition there are two three-signal ionisation chambers, each with exchangeable band-pass filters to determine the absolute EUV fluxes repeatedly during the mission. One important problem of space-borne instrumentation recording the solar EUV irradiance is the degradation of the spectrometer sensitivity. The two double ionisation chambers of SolACES, which could be re-filled with three different gases for each recording, allow the recalibration of the efficiencies of the three SolACES spectrometers from time to time.     

Characterization of GPS-TEC over African equatorial ionization anomaly (EIA) region during 2009–2016

This study characterizes total electron content (TEC) measured by Global Positioning System (GPS) over African equatorial ionization anomaly (EIA) region for 2009–2016 period during both quiet geomagnetic conditions (Kp?≤?1) and normal conditions (1?>?Kp?≤?4). GPS-TEC data from four equatorial/low-latitude stations, namely, Addis Ababa (ADIS: 9.04°N, 38.77°E, mag. lat: 0.2°N) [Ethiopia]; Yamoussoukro (YKRO: 6.87°N, 5.24°W, mag. lat: 2.6°S) [Ivory Coast]; Malindi (MAL2; 3.00°S, 40.19°E, mag. lat: 12.4°S) [Kenya] and Libreville (NKLG; 0.35°N, 9.67°W, mag. lat: 13.5°S) [Gabon] were used for this study. Interesting features like noontime TEC bite-out, winter anomaly during the ascending and maximum phases of solar cycle 24, diurnal and seasonal variations with solar activity have been observed and investigated in this study. The day-to-day variations exhibited ionospheric TEC asymmetry on an annual scale. TEC observed at equatorial stations (EIA-trough) and EIA-crest reach maximum values between ～1300–1600 LT and ～1300–1600 LT, respectively. About 76% of the high TEC values were recorded in equinoctial months while the June solstice predominantly exhibited low TEC values. Yearly, the estimated TEC values increases or decreases with solar activity, with 2014 having the highest TEC value. Solar activity dependence of TEC within the EIA zone reveals that both F10.7?cm index and EUV flux (24–36?nm) gives a stronger correlation with TEC than Sunspot Number (SSN). A slightly higher degree of dependence is on EUV flux with the mean highest correlation coefficient (R) value of 0.70, 0.83, 0.82 and 0.88 for quiet geomagnetic conditions (Kp?≤?1) at stations ADIS, MAL2, NKLG, and YKRO, respectively. The correlation results for the entire period consequently reveals that SSN and solar flux F10.7?cm index might not be an ideal index as a proxy for EUV flux as well as to measure the variability of TEC strength within the EIA zone. The estimated TEC along the EIA crest (MAL2 and NKLG) exhibited double-hump maximum, as well as post-sunset peaks (night time enhancement of TEC) between ～2100 and 2300 LT. EIA formation was prominent during evening/post-noon hours.     

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.     

Ionospheric anomalies observed over South Korea preceding the Great Tohoku earthquake of 2011

We investigated the ionospheric anomalies observed before the Tohoku earthquake, which occurred near the northeast coast of Honshu, Japan on 11 March, 2011. Based on data from a ground-based Global Positioning System (GPS) network on the Korean Peninsula, ionospheric anomalies were detected in the total electron content (TEC) during the daytime a few days before earthquake. Ionospheric TEC anomalies appeared on 5, 8 and 11 March. In particular, the ionospheric disturbances on 8 March evidenced a remarkable increase in TEC. The GPS TEC variation associated with the Tohoku earthquake was an increase of approximately 20 total electron content units (TECU), observed simultaneously in local and global TEC measurements. To investigate these pre-earthquake ionospheric anomalies, space weather conditions such as the solar activity index (F10.7) and geomagnetic activity indices (the Kp and Dst indices) were examined. We also created two-dimensional TEC maps to visual the spatial variations in the ionospheric anomalies preceding the earthquake.     

A nonlinear background removal method for seismo-ionospheric anomaly analysis under a complex solar activity scenario: A case study of the M9.0 Tohoku earthquake

A precise determination of ionospheric total electron content (TEC) anomaly variations that are likely associated with large earthquakes as observed by global positioning system (GPS) requires the elimination of the ionospheric effect from irregular solar electromagnetic radiation. In particular, revealing the seismo-ionospheric anomalies when earthquakes occurred during periods of high solar activity is of utmost importance. To overcome this constraint, a multiresolution time series processing technique based on wavelet transform applicable to global ionosphere map (GIM) TEC data was used to remove the nonlinear effect from solar radiation for the earthquake that struck Tohoku, Japan, on 11 March, 2011. As a result, it was found that the extracted TEC have a good correlation with the measured solar extreme ultraviolet flux in 26–34 nm (EUV_26–34) and the 10.7 cm solar radio flux (F_10.7). After removing the influence of solar radiation origin in GIM TEC, the analysis results show that the TEC around the forthcoming epicenter and its conjugate were significantly enhanced in the afternoon period of 8 March 2011, 3 days before the earthquake. The spatial distributions of the TEC anomalous and extreme enhancements indicate that the earthquake preparation process had brought with a TEC anomaly area of size approximately 1650 and 5700 km in the latitudinal and longitudinal directions, respectively.     

Equatorial Ionospheric Anomaly (EIA) and comparison with IRI model during descending phase of solar activity (2005–2009)

The ionospheric variability at equatorial and low latitude region is known to be extreme as compared to mid latitude region. In this study the ionospheric total electron content (TEC), is derived by analyzing dual frequency Global Positioning System (GPS) data recorded at two stations separated by 325 km near the Indian equatorial anomaly region, Varanasi (Geog latitude 25°, 16^/ N, longitude 82°, 59^/ E, Geomagnetic latitude 16°, 08^/ N) and Kanpur (Geog latitude 26°, 18^/ N, longitude 80°, 12^/ E, Geomagnetic latitude 17°, 18^/ N). Specifically, we studied monthly, seasonal and annual variations as well as solar and geomagnetic effects on the equatorial ionospheric anomaly (EIA) during the descending phase of solar activity from 2005 to 2009. It is found that the maximum TEC (EIA) near equatorial anomaly crest yield their maximum values during the equinox months and their minimum values during the summer. Using monthly averaged peak magnitude of TEC, a clear semi-annual variation is seen with two maxima occurring in both spring and autumn. Results also showed the presence of winter anomaly or seasonal anomaly in the EIA crest throughout the period 2005–2009 only except during the deep solar minimum year 2007–2008. The correlation analysis indicate that the variation of EIA crest is more affected by solar activity compared to geomagnetic activity with maximum dependence on the solar EUV flux, which is attributed to direct link of EUV flux on the formation of ionosphere and main agent of the ionization. The statistical mean occurrence of EIA crest in TEC during the year from 2005 to 2009 is found to around 12:54 LT hour and at 21.12° N geographic latitude. The crest of EIA shifts towards lower latitudes and the rate of shift of the crest latitude during this period is found to be 0.87° N/per year. The comparison between IRI models with observation during this period has been made and comparison is poor with increasing solar activity with maximum difference during the year 2005.     

不同太阳活动条件下电离层形态对估算GPS系统硬件延迟的影响

利用两个中纬度台站GPS观测数据提取的GPS卫星硬件延迟,分析了不同太阳活动情况下估算的硬件延迟稳定性和统计特征,结合同期电离层观测数据,研究了电离层状态对硬件延迟估算结果的影响.研究结果表明,基于太阳活动高年(2001年)GPS观测数据估算的硬件延迟稳定性要低于太阳活动低年GPS观测数据的估算结果,利用2001年GPS数据估算的卫星硬件延迟年标准偏差(RMS)平均值约为1TECU,而2009年GPS数据估算的卫星硬件延迟年标准偏差平均值约为0.8TECU.通过对2001年和2009年北京地区电离层F₂层最大电子密度(N_mF₂)变化性分析,结合GPS硬件延迟估算方法对电离层时空变化条件的要求,认为硬件延迟稳定性与太阳活动强度的联系是由不同太阳活动条件下电离层变化的强度差异引起的.      

Removing Solar Radiation Based on the Empirical Mode Decomposition Method for Seismo-Ionospheric Anomaly Before the M9.0 Tohoku Earthquake

The ionospheric effect from solar activity can be seen as the background in the process of detecting the ionospheric precursor prior to strong earthquakes. The ionospheric variation induced by the forthcoming earthquake can be covered by the strong solar background during the period of high solar activity. The issue of how to remove the ionospheric effect from solar radiation is of outstanding significance. In this paper, a method of Empirical Mode Decomposition (EMD) is used to eliminate the solar background. As a case study, the global ionospheric map TEC before the M9.0 Tohoku earthquake on 11 March 2011 is analyzed. After the effect of solar radiation is removed using the EMD method, the precursor of the imminent earthquake is more obvious. The ionospheric anomaly had a local character and only appeared close to the earthquake epicenter while the useful signals were covered by the solar radiation background with traditional method, which implies that the EMD method is effective in eliminating solar radiation background.      

Comparison of standard TEC models with a Neural Network based TEC model using multistation GPS TEC around the northern crest of Equatorial Ionization Anomaly in the Indian longitude sector during the low and moderate solar activity levels of the 24th solar cycle

The highest Total Electron Content (TEC) values in the world normally occur at Equatorial Ionization Anomaly (EIA) region resulting in largest ionospheric range delay values observed for any potential Space Based Augmentation System (SBAS). Reliable forecasting of TEC is crucial for satellite based navigation systems. The day to day variability of the location of the anomaly peak and its intensity is very large. This imposes severe limitations on the applicability of commonly used ionospheric models to the low latitude regions. It is necessary to generate a mathematical ionospheric forecasting and mapping model for TEC based on physical ionospheric influencing parameters. A model, IRPE-TEC, has been developed based on real time low latitude total electron content data using GPS measurements from a number of stations situated around the northern crest of the EIA during 2007 through 2011 to predict the vertical TEC values during the low and moderate solar activity levels of the 24th solar cycle. This model is compared with standard ionospheric models like International Reference Ionosphere (IRI) and Parameterized Ionospheric Model (PIM) to establish its applicability in the equatorial region for accurate predictions.     

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.      

2009年7月22日日全食期间电离层总电子含量变化研究

利用中国区域内五个GPS台站(一个台站处于日全食区域、四个台站处于日偏食区域)观测数据, 研究2009年7月22日日全食期间电离层总电子含量(TEC)的变化, 结果表明, 日全食期间, 电离层TEC值经历了下降和恢复的过程, 最小TEC相对于最大食偏的时间延迟约为1～10min; 台站测得最小TEC的星下点(IPP)越靠近日全食带TEC下降量越大, 在日食期间武汉站(114.35°E, 30.53°N) TEC相对于各参考日期的TEC, 其平均下降量最大, 达到4.58TECU.      

新乡上空电离层总电子含量的经验模式

基于电离层总电子含量与太阳活动性之间的线性相关关系,利用在新乡长期测量所得的电离层总电子含量的资料,得出了总电子含量的一种经验模式。      

Total electron content measurements in ionospheric physics

With the advent of modern global networks of dual-frequency Global Positioning System (GPS), total electron content (TEC) measurements along slant paths connecting GPS receivers and satellites at 22,000 km have become the largest data set available to ionospheric scientists. The TEC can be calculated from the time and phase delay in the GPS signal using the GPS Toolkit, but an unknown bias will remain. In addition, UHF/VHF radio beacons on board low-Earth-orbiting satellites can also be used to measure the electron content. However, the TEC measurements are obtained by integrating TEC differences between slant paths, but also contain biases. It is often necessary to use data assimilative algorithms like the Ionospheric Data Assimilation Three-Dimensional (IDA3D), and to treat both GPS- and LEO-beacon TEC measurements as relative data in order to conduct ionospheric studies.     

What is the optimum solar proxy for long-term ionospheric investigations?

The problem of optimum solar proxy is important for long-term and/or climatological studies of ionospheric parameters. Here we focus on possibly different optimum solar proxies for different ionospheric parameters, as they are affected by partly different spectral ranges of solar ionizing radiation. We use yearly average values of foF2 and foE of four European stations with long (1976–2014) and high-quality data (Juliusruh, Pruhonice, Rome, Slough/Chilton), and the global total electron content (G-TEC). Four solar proxies are used: F10.7, Mg II, solar Lymna-alpha flux Fα and sunspot numbers. The most important finding is that the optimum solar proxies are different for different ionospheric parameters. The most suitable solar proxy for foF2 is found to be Mg II, whereas for foE F10.7 evidently outperforms Mg II. Fα and sunspot numbers perform slightly worse but none of four solar proxies performs poorly. F10.7 is favored for G-TEC, to some extent surprisingly, as previous results favored rather Mg II.