A newly discovered 1000‐km scale longitudinal variation in ionospheric densities is an unexpected and heretofore unexplained phenomenon. Here we show that ionospheric densities vary with the strength of non‐migrating, diurnal atmospheric tides that are, in turn, driven mainly by weather in the tropics. A strong connection between tropospheric and ionospheric conditions is unexpected, as these upward propagating tides are damped far below the peak in ionospheric density. The observations can be explained by consideration of the dynamo interaction of the tides with the lower ionosphere (E‐layer) in daytime. The influence of persistent tropical rainstorms is therefore an important new consideration for space weather.

The wind shear theory is widely accepted as an explanation for the formation of a sporadic E (Es) layer, but the direct comparison of Es with the local wind shear has been limited due to the lack of neutral wind measurements. This study examines the role of the vertical wind shear for Es, using signal‐to‐noise ratio profiles from COSMIC‐2 radio occultation measurements and concurrent measurements of neutral wind profiles from the Ionospheric Connection Explorer. It is observed that the Es occurrence rate and average S4 index are correlated with the negative vertical shear of the eastward wind, providing observational support for the wind shear theory. Es can be observed even when the vertical wind shear is positive, which is interpreted as metallic ion layers generated at an earlier time.

The abundance of plasma in the daytime ionosphere is often seen to grow greatly during geomagnetic storms. Recent reports suggest that the magnitude of the plasma density enhancement depends on the UT of storm onset. This possibility is investigated over a 7year period using global maps of ionospheric total electron content (TEC) produced at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The analysis confirms that the American sector exhibits, on average, larger storm time enhancement in ionospheric plasma content, up to 50% in the afternoon middle‐latitude region and 30% in the vicinity of the high‐latitude auroral cusp, with largest effect in the Southern Hemisphere. We investigate whether this effect is related to the magnitude of the causative magnetic storms. Using the same advanced Dst index employed to sort the TEC maps into quiet and active (Dst<−100 nT) sets, we find variation in storm strength that corresponds closely to the TEC variation but follows it by 3–6h. For this and other reasons detailed in this report, we conclude that the UT‐dependent peak in storm time TEC is likely not related to the magnitude of external storm time forcing but more likely attributable to phenomena such as the low magnetic field in the South American region. The large Dst variation suggests a possible system‐level effect of the observed variation in ionospheric storm response on the measured strength of the terrestrial ring current, possibly connected through UT‐dependent modulation of ion outflow.

Space-based measurements from an imager aboard the high-apogee NASA-IMAGE satellite allows for global-scale observations of nightside ionospheric densities and structure. Such a view cannot be provided by imagers in near-Earth orbit or based on the ground. The IMAGE Spectroscopic Imager (SI) isolates the Far-ultraviolet (FUV) O I 135.6nm emission which is produced through radiative recombination of O⁺. These observations clearly show the distribution of FUV emissions of the equatorial airglow bands over the range of local times between the evening terminator to points well after midnight. Determination of plasma drift speeds in these local time sectors is performed by identification and subsequent tracking of localized depressions in the FUV emissions. This determination is made for nearly 200 plasma bubbles in the March-May period of 2002. Important findings of this study include (1) an unambiguous association between D_st and zonal plasma drift speeds, and (2) a longitudinal dependence of the zonal plasma drift speeds, with a peak around the Indian sector. The first effect is attributed to penetrating ring current electric fields, while the second is apparently due to a longitudinal variability in the vertical polarization electric fields that directly affects the zonal plasma drift speeds.