Upgrading CCIR's foF2 maps using available ionosondes and genetic algorithms

We have developed a new approach towards a new database of the ionospheric parameter $f_{o}F2$. This parameter, being the frequency of the maximum of the ionospheric electronic density profile and its main modeller, is of great interest not only in atmospheric studies but also in the realm of radio propagation. The current databases, generated by CCIR (Committee Consultative for Ionospheric Radiowave propagation) and URSI (International Union of Radio Science), and used by the IRI (International Reference Ionosphere) model, are based on Fourier expansions and have been built in the 60s from the available ionosondes at that time. The main goal of this work is to upgrade the databases by using new available ionosonde data. To this end we used the IRI diurnal/spherical expansions to represent the $f_{o}F2$ variability, and computed its coefficients by means of a genetic algorithm (GA). In order to test the performance of the proposed methodology, we applied it to the South American region with data obtained by RAPEAS (Red Argentina para el Estudio de la Atmósfera Superior, i.e. Argentine Network for the Study of the Upper Atmosphere) during the years 1958–2009. The new GA coefficients provide a global better fit of the IRI model to the observed $f_{o}F2$ than the CCIR coefficients. Since the same formulae and the same number of coefficients were used, the overall integrity of IRI’s typical ionospheric feature representation was preserved. The best improvements with respect to CCIR are obtained at low solar activities, at large (in absolute value) modip latitudes, and at night-time. The new method is flexible in the sense that can be applied either globally or regionally. It is also very easy to recompute the coefficients when new data is available. The computation of a third set of coefficients corresponding to days of medium solar activity in order to avoid the interpolation between low and high activities is suggested. The same procedure as for $f_{o}F2$ can be perfomed to obtain the ionospheric parameter M(3000)F2.     

玉树地震前的电离层异常现象分析

分析了玉树地震前地基电离层探测临界频率、GPS TEC和卫星探测原位等离子体参量等多个参数的扰动变化信息, 研究了不同高度异常变化的时空关联性. 分析发现, 在地震前一天的4月13日, 多个电离层参量出现同步扰动异常, 电离层临界频率f₀F₂异常相对滑动中值增大40%, 异常空间上存在从震中东南向西南漂移的特性; GPS TEC异常增强15TECU (1TECU=1016m-2)左右, 分布于震中南部经度15°范围内, 且有明显的磁共轭效应; DEMETER观测的原位氧离子密度N_i(O+) 4月13日为1-4月中最强的一天, 异常分布偏向赤道区, 但仅局限在30°-50°左右的经度范围内. 综合三个参量的异常特征发现, 无论是空间的局地性还是时间上的密切关联均反映这次电离层扰动可能与玉树地震孕育有关. 结合其他观测信息, 进一步探讨了这次地震孕育过程的地震电离层耦合机理.      

Features of the occurrence of the additional stratification on the bottom-side F region over the equatorial location of Trivandrum

The general features of occurrence of an additional layer on the bottom side of F region, referred to as F0.5 layer in the pre noon period, over the magnetic equatorial location of Trivandrum (8.5° N; 77° E; dip lat of 0.5° N) in India during the period from 2004 to 2007 are presented using ionosonde observations. The F0.5 layer has a June (northern summer) solsticial maximum probability of occurrence with secondary maxima during December (northern winter) solstice. The seasonal as well as the day-to-day variability in the occurrence of F0.5 layer as mentioned in this paper seems to be a result of the variations in the amplitude and phases of the tides and gravity waves, and inventory of the metallic ions of meteoric origin. This study brings out an important manifestation of morning time F layer base region dynamics.     

Stability of the seasonal variations in diurnal and semidiurnal components of mid-latitude F2 layer parameters

We report work utilizing 15-min resolution ionospheric data obtained with DPS-4 digisonde in 2003–2011 to study the seasonal variations in amplitudes and phases of the most powerful spectral components of the F2 layer critical frequency (foF2) and peak height (hmF2) fluctuations over Irkutsk (52.5°N, 104.0°E). We show that fluctuations of both parameters contain quasi-harmonic components with periods of T_n = 24/n h (n = 1–7). The number of distinct spectral peaks varies from 3 in summer to 7 in winter. Amplitude and phase characteristics of the diurnal (n = 1) and semidiurnal (n = 2) components is studied using the data sets extracted from the original data sets with band-pass filter. It has been found that the amplitudes of diurnal/semidiurnal foF2 and diurnal hmF2 components are maximum in winter and minimum in summer. Amplitudes of the diurnal components vary gradually; those of the foF2 semidiurnal one, abruptly, thus forming a narrow winter maximum in November–January. The phase (local time of maximum) of the diurnal foF2 component increases gradually by 4–6 h from winter to summer. The phase of the semidiurnal foF2 component is nearly stable in winter/summer and sharply decreases (increases) by 2–3 h near the spring (autumn) equinox. The phase of the diurnal component of hmF2 (local time of minimum) varies slightly between 1130 and 1300 LT; that of the semidiurnal one decreases (increases) by 4–6 h from January to March (from September to November). The results obtained show that the main features of seasonal variations in the diurnal and semidiurnal components of the mid-latitude F2 layer parameters recur consistently during the solar activity growth and decline phases.     

Investigation of ionospheric response to two moderate geomagnetic storms using GPS–TEC measurements in the South American and African sectors during the ascending phase of solar cycle 24

The responses of the ionospheric F region using GPS–TEC measurements during two moderate geomagnetic storms at equatorial, low-, and mid-latitude regions over the South American and African sectors in May 2010, during the ascending phase of solar cycle 24, are investigated. The first moderate geomagnetic storm studied reached a minimum Dst value of −64 nT at 1500 UT on 02 May 2010 and the second moderate geomagnetic storm reached a minimum Dst value of −85 nT at 1400 UT on 29 May 2010. In this paper, we present vertical total electron content (VTEC) and phase fluctuations (in TECU/min) from Global Positioning System (GPS) observations from the equatorial to mid-latitude regions in the South American and African sectors. Our results obtained during these two moderate geomagnetic storms from both sectors show significant positive ionospheric storms during daytime hours at the equatorial, low-, and mid-latitude regions during the main and recovery phases of the storms. The thermospheric wind circulation change towards the equator is a strong indicator that suggests an important mechanism is responsible for these positive phases at these regions. A pre-storm event that was observed in the African sector from low- to the mid-latitude regions on 01 May 2010 was absent in the South American sector. This study also showed that there was no generation or suppression of ionospheric irregularities by storm events. Therefore, knowledge about the suppression and generation of ionospheric irregularities during moderate geomagnetic storms is still unclear.     

2007-2009谷年期间高热层大气密度的变化

在第23至第24太阳活动周的峰年之间,太阳活动谷年具有持续时间长,极低F_10.7太阳辐射通量（低至65）和超长期的零太阳黑子数记录等特点,因此是观测和研究在这种特殊背景下热层大气变化的极好机会.尤其是能充分理解和掌握在宁静环境下热层大气密度对弱太阳活动和小地磁扰动的响应特性.本文利用高度650 km以上星载大气密度探测器2007—2009年的连续探测数据进行分析,结果表明,在太阳辐射通量F_10.7极低值期间,较高热层大气密度对F_10.7的起伏具有更显著的响应变化.当F_10.7由70降至65时,日均大气密度会有4～5倍的显著降变,远大于通常大气模式中的降变值.同样在F_10.7极低值期间,较高热层大气密度对小地磁扰动也具有显著的响应增变,当日K_p指数之和由23增至30时,较高热层大气密度则会有80%～160%的强增变.     

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.     

基于协同决策的多航站楼停机位实时分配算法

针对多航站楼机场停机位实时指派问题,提出了基于协同决策并考虑航空公司时隙交换公平性的机位实时指派算法。该算法将多航站楼资源的可共享性考虑到指派算法中,以最小延误费用原则为约束,采用混合集合规划进行指派模型的建立与求解。该算法在保证多航站楼停机位资源有效共享的前提下,充分实现了航空公司时隙交换的公平性,并且使延误引起的多方成本最小化。算例说明:本文提出的算法可以有效解决多航站楼的机位实时分配问题。     

电流积分器对I/F转换性能的影响分析

本文介绍了带分流结构的电流/频率转换电路和电流积分器的工作原理,推导了电流积分器的误差,并分析了运放的几个关键参数对l/F电路性能的影响.通过理论推导和实验对比,得出了I/F电路设计时电流积分器电路选择运算放大器的参考依据,并对带分流结构的I/F电路作出了改进.     

Characteristics of field line resonance type geomagnetic pulsations and variations of plasmaspheric plasma density distribution

The period of field line resonance (FLR) type geomagnetic pulsations depends on the length of the field line and on the plasma density in the inner magnetosphere (plasmasphere), where field lines are closed. Here as FLR period, the period belonging to the maximum occurrence frequency of the occurrence frequency spectrum (equivalent resonance curve) of pulsations has been considered. The resonance system may be replaced by an equivalent resonant circuit. The plasma density would correspond to the ohmic load. The plasma in the plasmasphere originates from the ionosphere, thus FLR period, occurrence frequency are also affected by the maximum electron density in the ionosphere. The FLR period has shown an enhancement with increasing F region electron density, while the occurrence frequency indicated diminishing trend (possible damping effect). Thus, the increased plasma density may be the cause of the decreased occurrence of FLR type pulsations in the winter months of solar activity maximum years (winter anomaly).