Occurrence of medium-scale travelling ionospheric disturbances identified in the Tasman international geospace environment radar observations

The occurrence characteristics of medium-scale travelling ionospheric disturbances (MSTIDs) were investigated using the Tasman International Geospace Environment Radar (TIGER). From the occurrence study of sea echoes, we found two maxima, one pre-noon and the other after noon. They are less obvious with increase of magnetic activities, and more obvious when B_z is northwards. It is suggested that this maxima were related to fore- and after-noon maxima in the distribution of net field-aligned currents flowing from the magnetosphere to the ionosphere, and that these two regions were sources of atmospheric gravity waves (AGWs) due to enhancement of Hall conductivities in the ionosphere. The Lorentz force is suggested to be a possible mechanism for the excitation of MSTIDs in the dayside ionosphere.     

Ionospheric storm of September 2017 observed at ionospheric station Pruhonice,the Czech Republic

The ionospheric effects induced by the September 2017 storm have been exceptional compared to other events in the solar cycle 24. This paper gathers results of the ionospheric observations at the European middle latitude station Pruhonice. It consists of evaluation of ionospheric vertical and oblique sounding, Digisonde drift measurement, and data obtained from the Continuous Doppler Sounding System. We observed strong ionospheric response with an unusual stratification of ionospheric layers, Large Scale Traveling ionospheric disturbances, changes in electron density, and increase and oscillations in plasma drift velocity.     

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.     

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 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。     

我国电离层基本参量与国际参考模式的比较

本文利用我国满洲里、北京、武昌、重庆和广州等台站电离层观测记录,对各层临界频率的实测值(月中值)与IRI-86的计算值进行了分析比较.|发现两者存在着显著而系统的偏离.E层和F₁层偏离较小F₂层偏离较大,其相对值有时超过60%.总的来说,f₀F₂的相对偏离:夜间大,白天小冬季大,夏季小太阳活动低年大,高年小随着纬度降低偏离增大模式值普遍大于实测值.