Solar activity dependence of total electron content derived from GPS observations over Mbarara

Vertical total electron content (VTEC) observed at Mbarara (geographic co-ordinates: 0.60°S, 30.74°E; geomagnetic coordinates: 10.22°S, 102.36°E), Uganda, for the period 2001–2009 have been used to study the diurnal, seasonal and solar activity variations. The daily values of the 10.7 cm radio flux (F_10.7) and sunspot number (R) were used to represent Solar Extreme Ultraviolet Variability (EUV). VTEC is generally higher during high solar activity period for all the seasons and increases from 0600 h LT and reaches its maximum value within 1400 h–1500 h LT. All analysed linear and quadratic fits demonstrate positive VTEC-F_10.7 and positive VTEC-R correlation, with all fits at 0000 h and 1400 h LT being significant with a confidence level of 95% when both linear and quadratic models are used. All the fits at 0600 h LT are insignificant with a confidence level of 95%. Generally, over Mbarara, quadratic fit shows that VTEC saturates during all seasons for F_10.7 more than 200 units and R more than 150 units. The result of this study can be used to improve the International Reference Ionosphere (IRI) prediction of TEC around the equatorial region of the African sector.     

Ionospheric disturbances on 8 September, 2010: Was it connected with the incoming moderate Chongqing earthquake?

Earthquake prediction stimulates the searches for a correlation between seismic activity and ionospheric anomalies. Contrary to common focuses on strong earthquakes, we report the ionospheric disturbances, 2 days before a moderate Ms = 4.7 Chongqing earthquake (29.4°N, 105.5°E, depth = 7.0 km, occurred at 21:21 LT, 10 September, 2010) with the data of ground-based ionosondes and IGS receivers. The data covering the period under the quiet geomagnetic conditions and a geomagnetic storm was analyzed with upper and lower bounds. It is found that there were significant enhancements of foF2 and total electron content (TEC) on the afternoon of 8 September, 2010, with a limited area close to the epicentre, which was different from the feature of ionospheric perturbations triggered by the geomagnetic storm on 15 September. Taking into account the heliogeomagnetical condition, we conclude that the observed ionospheric enhancements were very likely associated with the forthcoming moderate Chongqing earthquake, which implies that the relationship between the amplitudes of ionospheric disturbances and earthquakes is very complicated.     

On the detection of anomalous seismo-ionospheric behavior in the presence of space weather stimuli for large earthquakes

Anomalous behavior of ionospheric total electron content (TEC) prior to earthquake has been observed in many studies. Evidence of such seismo-ionospheric coupling effects suggests that it is plausible to rely on TEC signatures for early earthquake warning. However, the detection of pre-earthquake TEC anomalies (PETA) has not been adopted in practice due to two pertinent issues. Firstly, the effects of space weather activity can affect TEC levels and cause anomalous behavior in the TEC. Usually arbitrary thresholds are set for space weather indices to eliminate TEC anomaly due to space weather effects. Secondly, the choice regarding moving time-window length used to characterise background variation of TEC within the statistical envelope approach has an effect on detection of PETA. While the rule-of-thumb in selecting the moving window length is to have a time window capable of capturing background variability and short-term fluctuations, the length of the time window used in the literature varies with little justification. In this study, a critical examination is conducted on the statistical envelope approach and in particular, to eliminate the effect of space weather activity without the use of arbitrary space indices to detect PETA. A two-part PETA identification procedure is proposed, consisting of wavelet analyses isolating non-earthquake TEC contributions, followed by the statistical envelope method using a moving window length standardized based on observed periodicities and statistical implications is suggested. The approach is tested on a database of 30 large earthquakes (M?≥?7.0). The proposed procedure shows that PETA can be detected prior to earthquakes at higher confidence levels without the need to separately check for space weather activity. More importantly, the procedure was able to detect PETA for studies where it was previously reported that PETA could not be detected or detected convincingly.     

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.     

应用高频多普勒方法对耀斑期间电离层TEC变化的估算

通过分析前人对耀斑期间电离层各区域电子密度的变化情况,总结了一个应用耀斑期间的高频多普勒扰动记录估算出层总电子含量变化的方法,并应用这一方法计算了１９９０年３－６月几次耀斑引起的低电离层总电子含量的变化,同时还与各耀斑对应的最大流量密度进行了比较,并对两者之间的相关情况进行了分析。     

The effect of total solar eclipse of October 3, 2005, on the total electron content over Europe

GPS observations from EUREF permanent GPS network were used to observe the response of TEC (Total Electron Content) to the total solar eclipse on October 3, 2005, under quiet geomagnetic conditions of the daytime ionosphere. The effect of the eclipse was detected in diurnal variations and more distinctly in the variations of TEC along individual satellite passes. The trough-like variations with a gradual decrease and followed by an increase of TEC at the time of the eclipse were observed over a large region. The depression of TEC amounted to 3–4 TECU. The maximum depression was observed over all stations located at the maximum path of the solar eclipse. The delay of a minimum level of TEC with respect to the maximum phase of the eclipse was about 20–30 min.     

Night-time total electron content enhancements at equatorial anomaly region in China

This paper presents small scale (duration ?1 h, ΔTEC ? 1TECU) night-time total electron content (TEC) enhancements observed at the equatorial anomaly region in China, for the first time. The data is from a GPS receiver chain established in 2005 by Institute of Center for Space Science and Applied Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences and a GPS receiver of International GPS Service (IGS), located between Fuzhou (26.1°N, 119.3°E) and Nanning (22.8°N, 108.3°E). Two other GPS observations of IGS taken at higher latitude were also used to investigate the localization of such phenomenon. The characteristics of the night-time TEC enhancement are examined with two case studies. The TEC increases about 1–3TECU, intermittently. While the night-time TEC enhancement mainly occurs at the equatorial anomaly region, it can be observed at middle latitude as well. The spatial size of the enhancement region is less than 5° in longitude. The primary statistical study shows that the TEC enhancement is more often observed in spring and autumn, but rarely in summer. It has no dependence on geomagnetic activity. The enhancement can occur both before and after midnight.     

总电子含量的一个统计模式

利用北京实测的TEC及f_0F_2资料,求出太阳黑子数R,电离层临界频率f_0F_2和总电子含量的一个统计关系。     

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。     

Variation of ionospheric total electron content in Taiwan region of the equatorial anomaly from 1994 to 2003

The ionospheric total electron content (TEC) in the northern hemispheric equatorial ionospheric anomaly (EIA) region is studied by analyzing dual-frequency signals of the Global Position System (GPS) acquired from a chain of nine observational sites clustered around Taiwan (21.9–26.2°N, 118.4–112.6°E). In this study, we present results from a statistical study of seasonal and geomagnetic effects on the EIA during solar cycle 23: 1994–2003. It is found that TEC at equatorial anomaly crests yield their maximum values during the vernal and autumnal months and their minimum values during the summer (except 1998). Using monthly averaged I_c (magnitude of TEC at the northern anomaly crest), semi-annual variations is seen clearly with two maxima occurring in both spring and autumn. In addition, I_c is found to be greater in winter than in summer. Statistically monthly values of I_c were poorly correlated with the monthly Dst index (r = −0.22) but were well correlated with the solar emission F_10.7 index (r = 0.87) for the entire database for the period during 1994–2003. In contrast, monthly values of I_c were correlated better with Dst (r ? 0.72) than with F_10.7 (r ? 0.56) in every year during the low solar activity period (1994–1997). It suggests that the effect of solar activity on I_c is a longer term (years), whereas the effect of geomagnetic activity on I_c is a shorter term (months).     

Ionospheric disturbance associated with radiation accidents of Fukushima I nuclear power plant damaged by the M9.0 2011 Tohoku Earthquake

Transient ionospheric disturbances in the total electron content (TEC) are examined before and after the M9.0 2011 off the Pacific coast of Tohoku Earthquake to find ionospheric responses to the radiation caused by Fukushima I nuclear power plant accident, which was damaged by the earthquake and tsunamis. The TEC is derived from records of a ground-based receiving network of GPS Earth Observation Network (GEONET) in Japan. Both small enhancement and disturbance of TEC were detected over the nuclear power plant after the radiation was suddenly enhanced on March 14 of 2011, while similar signatures were not detected in the other sudden radiation enhancements. Further, no continuous enhancement and disturbance lasting for more than an hour were observed over the nuclear power plant. Therefore, the results indicate that radioactive materials may not cause the ionospheric disturbance or disturb the ionosphere in highly specific circumstance even if such effects exist.     

Seismogenic ionospheric anomalies associated with the strong Indonesian earthquake occurred on 11 April 2012 (M = 8.5)

Ionospheric perturbations in possible association with a major earthquake (EQ) (M?=?8.5) which occurred in India-Oceania region are investigated by monitoring subionospheric propagation of VLF signals transmitted from the NWC transmitter (F?=?19.8?kHz), Australia to a receiving station at Varanasi (geographic lat. 25.3°N, long 82.99°E), India. The EQ occurred on 11 April 2012 at 08:38:35?h UT (magnitude?≈?8.5, depth?=?10?km, and lat.?=?2.3°N, long.?=?93.0°E). A significant increase of few days before the EQ has been observed by using the VLF nighttime amplitude fluctuation method (fixed frequency transmitter signal). The analysis of total electron contents (TEC) derived from the global positioning system (GPS) at three different stations namely, Hyderabad (latitude 17.38°N, longitude 78.48°E), Singapore (latitude 1.37°N, longitude 103.84°E) and Port Blair (latitude 11.62°N, longitude 92.72°E) due to this EQ has also been presented. Significant perturbation in TEC data (enhancements and depletion) is noted before and after the main shock of the EQ. The possible mechanisms behind these perturbations due to EQ have also been discussed.     

Analysis of a topside ionospheric model using GPS and ionosonde observables

Ground-based vertical incidence soundings are well suited to model the bottom-side ionosphere but are not so good for dependably modelling the topside ionosphere. This study aims to combine vertical incidence sounding and dual-frequency GPS measurements to reconstruct the topside profile. The reconstruction technique relays on the use of the so-called vary-Chap approach that use an α-Chapman function with a continuously varying scale height.     

Cross testing of ionosphere models IRI-2001 and IRI-2007, data from satellite altimeters (Topex/Poseidon and Jason-1) and global ionosphere maps

In this study, we use a great body of statistical data covering the entire 23rd solar cycle to cross test data of satellite altimeters, Global Ionosphere Maps and the International Reference Ionosphere models, IRI-2001 and IRI-2007. It is revealed that experimental TEC values of the satellite altimeters regularly exceed the model ones by ∼3 TECU (1 TECU = 10¹⁶ m⁻²). The best possible value of difference between TECs obtained from altimeter and GIM-map data significantly differs for different laboratories: the maximum for CODG data falls on 2.5 TECU, ESAG – 3 TECU, JPLG – 0 TECU, UPCG – 2 TECU. The dependence of experimental and model data root-mean-square deviation on the F10.7 index is shown to be nearly linear. IRI-2001 and IRI-2007 relative errors are characterized by considerable 11-year and annual variations. Given the geomagnetic planetary index K_p under 7, IRI-2001 and IRI-2007 reproduce TEC in the ionosphere with an accuracy of ∼30% relative to measurement data from satellite altimeters. The amplitude of absolute error variations resulting from the difference in ionization enhancement between the model and the real ionosphere during the morning solar terminator transit is ∼5 TECU.