Studying characteristics of traveling ionospheric disturbances using U-shaped traces on vertical incidence ionograms

This paper presents a case study when due to the descending additional U-shaped trace on vertical incidence ionograms, increased critical frequency stabilizes. This corresponds to an ionospheric disturbance that moves toward the ionosonde and then stays overhead.Within a 2D model, traveling ionospheric disturbances (TIDs) are superimposed on the inverted background ionosphere. So ray tracing is used to obtain propagation paths through non-stratified ionosphere thus synthesizing the disturbed ionogram traces. Investigated are changes in the cusp shape caused by varying TID parameters. A cusp-fitting method to determine the TID amplitude, spatial scale, and horizontal drift velocity are shown.     

Atmosphere-ionosphere coupling from convectively generated gravity waves

Ionospheric variability impacts operational performances of a variety of technological systems, such as HF communication, Global Positioning System (GPS) navigation, and radar surveillance. The ionosphere is not only perturbed by geomagnetic inputs but is also influenced by atmospheric tides and other wave disturbances propagating from the troposphere to high altitudes. Atmospheric Gravity Waves (AGWs) excited by meteorological sources are one of the largest sources of mesoscale variability in the ionosphere. In this paper, Total Electron Content (TEC) data from networks of GPS receivers in the United States are analyzed to investigate AGWs in the ionosphere generated by convective thunderstorms. Two case studies of convectively generated gravity waves are presented. On April 4, 2014 two distinct large convective systems in Texas and Arkansas generated two sets of concentric AGWs that were observed in the ionosphere as Traveling Ionospheric Disturbances (TIDs). The period of the observed TIDs was 20.8 min, the horizontal wavelength was 182.4 km, and the horizontal phase speed was 146.4 m/s. The second case study shows TIDs generated from an extended squall line on December 23, 2015 stretching from the Gulf of Mexico to the Great Lakes in North America. Unlike the concentric wave features seen in the first case study, the extended squall line generated TIDs, which exhibited almost plane-parallel phase fronts. The TID period was 20.1 min, its horizontal wavelength was 209.6 km, and the horizontal phase speed was 180.1 m/s. The AGWs generated by both of these meteorological events have large vertical wavelength (>100 km), which are larger than the F2 layer thickness, thus allowing them to be discernible in the TEC dataset.     

Geomagnetic storm effects on the occurrences of ionospheric irregularities over the African equatorial/low-latitude region

The study investigated the effects of intense geomagnetic storms of 2015 on the occurrences of large scale ionospheric irregularities over the African equatorial/low-latitude region. Four major/intense geomagnetic storms of 2015 were analyzed for this study. These storms occurred on 17th March 2015 (?229?nT), 22nd June 2015 (?204?nT), 7th October 2015 (?124?nT), and 20th December 2015 (?170?nT). Total Electron Content (TEC) data obtained from five African Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) stations, grouped into eastern and western sectors were used to derive the ionospheric irregularities proxy indices, e.g., rate of change of TEC (ROT), ROT index (ROTI) and ROTI daily average (ROTI_AVE). These indices were characterized alongside with the disturbance storm time (Dst), the Y component of the Interplanetary Electric Field (IEFy), polar cap (PC) index and the H component of the Earth’s magnetic field from ground-based magnetometers. Irregularities manifested in the form of fluctuations in TEC. Prompt penetration of electric field (PPEF) and disturbance dynamo electric field (DDEF) modulated the behaviour of irregularities during the main and recovery phases of the geomagnetic storms. The effect of electric field over both sectors depends on the local time of southward turning of IMF Bz. Consequently, westward electric field inhibited irregularities during the main phase of March and October 2015 geomagnetic storms, while for the June 2015 storm, eastward electric field triggered weak irregularities over the eastern sector. The effect of electric field on irregularities during December 2015 storm was insignificant. During the recovery phase of the storms, westward DDEF suppressed irregularities.     

The lower ionosphere response to its disturbances by powerful radio waves

The paper presents data from some campaigns at Sura heating facility in 2011–1016. The experiments on probing of the artificial disturbed region of the lower ionosphere were carried out at two observation sites. One of them was located near Vasil’sursk 1 km from Sura facility (56.1°N; 46.1°E) and the other site was located at the Observatory (55.85°N; 48.8°E) of Kazan State University, 170 km to the East. Investigation of the features of the disturbed region of the lower ionosphere based on its diagnostics by the methods of the vertical sounding and oblique backscattering is the main goal of this paper. Ionosphere disturbance was fulfilled by the effect of the powerful radio wave of the ordinary or extraordinary polarization emitted by transmitters of the Sura facility with effective radiated power ERP = 50–120 MW at the frequency of 4.3, 4.7 and 5.6 MHz. Pumping waves were emitted with period from 30 s to 15 min. The disturbed region of the ionosphere in Vasil’sursk was probed by the vertical sounding technique using the partial reflexion radar at the frequency of 2.95 and 4.7 MHz. For the oblique sounding of the disturbed region the modified ionosonde Cyclon-M, operating at ten frequencies from 2.01 to 6.51 MHz was used at the Observatory site. On many heating sessions simultaneous variations of the probing partial reflection signals in Vasil’sursk and backscattered signals in Observatory were observed at the height at 40–100 km below the reflection height of the pumping wave. These observations were correlated with the pumping periods of the Sura facility. Possible mechanisms of the appearance of the disturbance in the lower ionosphere and its effect on the probing radio waves are discussed.     

Simultaneous observations of spread F irregularities over Southeast Asia longitude using Sanya VHF radar,GPS and C/NOFS

Through concurrently measurements by Communication/Navigation Outage Forecasting System (C/NOFS), Sanya VHF radar and GPS ionospheric scintillation receiver on 12 March 2010, five plasma bubbles were found and three of them were observed by all those instruments. Two well-developed plumes with strong backscatter echoes were measured by Sanya radar and their corresponding depletions were observed by C/NOFS in Orbit 10317, 10318 and 10319. Broad plasma depletions resulting from merging process were found in orbit of 10318. The occurrence time and geophysical positions of scintillations correlate well with observations implemented by Sanya VHF radar and C/NOFS. Observations from three types of instrument indicate that the spread F irregularities have distinct scale. There were longitudinal differences between Sanya VHF radar and C/NOFS as irregularities measured, and the eastward drift of developed bubbles are responsible for these differences.     

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.     

Climatology of ionospheric scintillations and TEC trend over the Ugandan region

This study presents results on the investigation of the diurnal, monthly and seasonal variability of Total Electron Content (TEC), phase (_σΦ${\sigma }_{\mathrm{\Phi }}$) and amplitude (S4) scintillation indices over Ugandan (Low latitude) region. Scintillation Network Decision Aid (SCINDA) data was obtained from Makerere (0.34°N, 32.57°E) station, Uganda for two years (2011 and 2012). Data from two dual frequency GPS receivers at Mbarara (0.60°S, 30.74°E) and Entebbe (0.04°N, 32.44°E) was used to study TEC climatology during the same period of scintillation study. The results show that peak TEC values were recorded during the months of October–November, and the lowest values during the months of July–August. The diurnal peak of TEC occurs between 10:00 and 14:00 UT hours. Seasonally, the ascending and descending phases of TEC were observed during the equinoxes (March and September) and solstice (June and December), respectively. The scintillations observed during the study were classified as weak (0.1≤$\le$S4,_σΦ≤${\sigma }_{\mathrm{\Phi }}\le$0.3) and strong (0.3<$<$S4,_σΦ≤${\sigma }_{\mathrm{\Phi }}\le$1.0). The diurnal scintillation pattern showed peaks between 17:00 and 22:00 UT hour, while the seasonal pattern follows the TEC pattern mentioned above. Amplitude scintillation was more dominant than phase scintillation during the two years of the study. Scintillation peaks occur during the months of March–April and September–October, while the least scintillations occur during the months of June–July. Therefore, the contribution of this study is filling the gap in the current documentation of amplitude scintillation without phase scintillation over the Ugandan region. The scintillations observed have been attributed to wave-like structures which have periods of about 2–3 h, in the range of that of large scale travelling ionospheric disturbances (LSTIDs).     

The multi-source data fusion global ionospheric modeling software—IonoGim

We introduce a new global ionospheric modeling software—IonoGim, using ground-based GNSS data, the altimetry satellite and LEO (Low Earth Orbit) occultation data to establish the global ionospheric model. The software is programmed by C++ with fast computing speed and highly automatic degree, it is especially suitable for automatic ionosphere modeling. The global ionospheric model and DCBs obtained from IonoGim were compared with the CODE (Center for Orbit Determination in Europe) to verify its accuracy and reliability. The results show that IonoGim and CODE have good agreement with small difference, indicating that IonoGim owns high accuracy and reliability, and can be fully applicable for high-precision ionospheric research. In addition, through comparison between only using ground-based GNSS observations and multi-source data model, it can be demonstrated that the space-based ionospheric data effectively improve the model precision in marine areas where the ground-based GNSS tracking station lacks.     

利用IGS-TEC数据分析中国华南地区电离层赤道异常北驼峰的变化特征

利用2010年11月至2011年10月IGS提供的全球电子浓度总含量(TEC)数据, 分析太阳活动上升期华南地区(经度110°E, 纬度5°—35°N) 上空电离层赤道异常(EIA)北驼峰的变化特征. 结果显示, 电离层赤道异常北驼峰区TEC峰值I具有明显的季节和半年变化特征; 北驼峰峰值出现的时间T和纬度L的日变化有一个相对较大的变化区间, 其季节和半年变化特征并不明显; 太阳活动对北驼峰变化影响比较明显, 而地磁活动对北驼峰变化影响不明显.      

北斗首颗备份卫星性能初步分析

主要从卫星钟差预报、轨道测定精度、伪距波动情况等角度分析了I6卫星与北斗卫星导航系统（BDS）其他现役倾斜地球同步轨道（IGSO）卫星的异同,并从位置精度因子（PDOP）和格网可用性评估了I6卫星入网对BDS的贡献。利用星地双向时频传递设备观测的星地钟差数据,评估了I6卫星星载原子钟的预报性能,结果表明,I6卫星发播的卫星钟参数外推5h预报误差的均方根误差（RMS）为232ns,外推1h预报误差的RMS为073ns,与现役IGSO卫星钟差预报水平相当;对多星联合精密定轨结果分析表明,与北斗现役I3卫星相比,姿态控制方式优化后的I6卫星在地影期间的轨道精度并未发生明显衰减,克服了现有北斗二号卫星在地影期间轨道精度下降,从而影响北斗服务的连续性、可用性问题;利用大口径抛物面天线采集到的数据对I6卫星的伪距波动进行了分析,结果表明I6卫星单个观测弧段内其伪距波动峰峰差约为1m,与其他IGSO卫星一致;进行PDOP仿真计算,结果表明I6卫星的加入使得喀什地区的PDOP最大值由1282下降为726,PDOP大于6的时段所占百分比由2911%下降为1721%;对格网电离层产品实施解算,结果表明I6卫星的加入使得6个电离层格网点的可用度提升至95%以上。