Signatures of strong geomagnetic storms in the equatorial latitude

Ionosonde data from two equatorial stations in the African sector have been used to study the signatures of four strong geomagnetic storms on the height – electron density profiles of the equatorial ionosphere with the objective of investigating the effects and extent of the effects on the three layers of the equatorial ionosphere. The results showed that strong geomagnetic storms produced effects of varying degrees on the three layers of the ionosphere. Effect of strong geomagnetic storms on the lower layers of the equatorial ionosphere can be significant when compared with effect at the F2-layer. Fluctuations in the height of ionization within the E-layer were as much as 0% to +20.7% compared to −12.5% to +8.3% for the F2-layer. The 2007 version of the International Reference Ionosphere, IRI-07 storm-time model reproduced responses at the E-layer but overestimated the observed storm profiles for the F1- and F2-layers.     

Negative VTEC with spherical harmonic expansion model under different solar activity conditions

The Earth’s ionosphere can be described by a spherical harmonic (SH) expansion up to a specific degree. However, there exist negative vertical total electron content (VTEC) values in the global ionosphere map (GIM) with the SH expansion model. In this contribution, we specifically investigated the negative VTEC values that are induced by the SH expansion model and validated the performance of the inequality-constrained least squares (ICLS) method in eliminating the negative VTEC values. The GPS data from 2004 to 2017 was selected to cover one solar cycle and the experiments under different solar activity conditions were analyzed. The results in our work show that the occurrence of the negative VTEC values is attributed to the deficiency of the SH expansion model when the VTEC itself is small instead of the unevenly distribution of the GNSS stations. The negative VTEC values appear periodically in the temporal domain, showing apparently one year and half year periods. During one year, two peaks in June and December can be observed in the time series of the negative VTEC values. The number of negative VTEC values in June is obvious larger than that in December. During one solar cycle, the number of negative VTEC values under quiet solar activity condition is obvious larger than that under strong solar activity condition. In the spatial domain, the appearance of the negative VTEC values is strongly related with the movement of the subsolar point. In the latitude of the subsolar point has the largest magnitude, the negative values will appear on the opposite hemisphere and the further from the subsolar point the more negative values. The maximum number of the negative VTEC values in the southern hemisphere appears in June, while the peak value in the northern hemisphere appears in December. The maximum number of negative VTEC values in the southern hemisphere is generally larger than that in the northern hemisphere. In addition, the negative VTEC values are distributed both at middle latitude and high latitude in the southern hemisphere, while they are mainly distributed at high latitude in the northern hemisphere. When the ICLS method is used, the negative VTEC values can be eliminated efficiently and it has nearly no influence on the positive VTEC values. The ICLS method can also improve the receiver’s differential code bias (DCB) and significantly decrease the unreasonable negative slant TEC (STEC) values along the lines of sight. Using the final GIM product of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPLG) as a reference, the root mean square (RMS) of the ICLS solution shows maximum 25%, 20% and 45% improvement relative to the least squares (LS) solution at northern high latitude, southern middle latitude and southern high latitude, respectively.     

Controlling factors of Region 2 field-aligned current and its relationship to the ring current: Model results

One essential component of magnetosphere and ionosphere coupling is the closure of the ring current through Region 2 field-aligned current (FAC). Using the Comprehensive Ring Current Model (CRCM), which includes magnetosphere and ionosphere coupling by solving the kinetic equation of ring current particles and the closure of the electric currents between the two regions, we have investigated the effects of high latitude potential, ionospheric conductivity, plasma sheet density and different magnetic field models on the development of Region 2 field-aligned currents, and the relationship between R2 FACs and the ring current. It is shown that an increase in high latitude potential, ionospheric conductivity or plasma sheet density generally results in an increase in Region 2 FACs’ intensity, but R2 FACs display different local time and latitudinal distributions for changes in each parameter due to the different mechanisms involved. Our simulation results show that the magnetic field configuration of the inner magnetosphere is also an important factor in the development of Region 2 field-aligned current. More numerical experiments and observational results are needed in further our understanding of the complex relationship of the two current systems.     

Ballooning perturbations in the inner magnetosphere of the Earth: Spectrum,stability and eigenmode analysis

We investigate the generation of ballooning perturbations in the inner magnetosphere of the Earth in the dipole model of the geomagnetic field taking into account ionospheric boundary conditions. The ionosphere is considered as a thin layer with finite conductivity. The eigenmode spectrum is discrete and consists of Alfvén, slow magnetosonic, flute and incompressible modes. Their interaction depends on ionospheric conductivity. The decay rate is small in noon and night sectors and large in dawn and dusk sectors. The lowest stability threshold α/γ ≈ 4.25 is determined by flute modes.     

半个太阳活动周期内我国中纬地区上空电离层等效板厚的变化特征

本文用新乡(电离层400km对下点是:32.4°N,115.6°E)、重庆(电离层400km对下点是:27.2°N,108.7°E)接收日本同步卫星ETS-Ⅱ的信标资料,研究了我国中纬地区上空半个太阳活动周期内(1981—1985)电离层等效板厚的变化特征,得到了等效板厚日变化、季变化的二维和三维等值图。由付里叶分析和回归方法得出等效板厚日变化各谐波分量与太阳黑子数12个月滑动平均值之间存在弱的线性关系。同时指出在等效板厚日变化中,于当地时0400—0700LT存在一明显的黎明峰。并对出现这种峰的原因作了讨论。     

Responses of ionospheric foF2 to geomagnetic activities in Hainan

Responses of low-latitude ionospheric critical frequency of F2 layer to geomagnetic activities in different seasons and under different levels of solar activity are investigated by analyzing the ionospheric foF2 data from DPS-4 Digisonde in Hainan Observatory during 2002–2005. The results are as follows: (1) the response of foF2 to geomagnetic activity in Hainan shows obvious diurnal variation except for the summer in low solar activity period. Generally, geomagnetic activity will cause foF2 to increase at daytime and decrease at nighttime. The intensity of response of foF2 is stronger at nighttime than that at daytime; (2) seasonal dependence of the response of foF2 to geomagnetic activity is very obvious. The negative ionospheric storm effect is the strongest in summer and the positive ionospheric storm effect is the strongest in winter; (3) the solar cycle has important effect on the response of foF2 to geomagnetic activity in Hainan. In high solar activity period, the diurnal variation of the response of foF2 is very pronounced in each season, and the strong ionospheric response can last several days. In low solar activity period, ionospheric response has very pronounced diurnal variation in winter only; (4) the local time of geomagnetic activities occurring also has important effect on the responses of foF2 in Hainan. Generally, geomagnetic activities occurred at nighttime can cause stronger and longer responses of foF2 in Hainan.