In this study, multiple data sets from Beidou geostationary orbit satellites total electron contents (TECs), ionosonde, meteor radar, magnetometer, and model simulations have been used to investigate the ionospheric responses in the Asian‐Australian sector during the September 2017 geomagnetic storm. It was found that long‐duration daytime TEC enhancements that lasted from 7 to 12 September 2017 were observed by the Beidou geostationary orbit satellite constellation. This is a unique event as the prominent TEC enhancements persisted during the storm recovery phase when geomagnetic activity became quiet. The Thermosphere‐Ionosphere Electrodynamics Global Circulation Model predicted that the TEC enhancements on 7–9 September were associated with the geomagnetic activity, but it showed significant electron density depletions on 10 and 11 September in contrast to the observed TEC enhancements. Our results suggested that the observed long‐duration TEC enhancements from 7 to 12 September are mainly associated with the interplay of ionospheric dynamics and electrodynamics. Nevertheless, the root causes for the observed TEC enhancements seen in the storm recovery phase are unknown and require further observations and model studies.
6 August 2020 in Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics
An Ionospheric Observational Network for Irregularity and Scintillation in East and Southeast Asia (IONISE) is developed to identify and study the short‐term and fine‐scale ionospheric variations over China. The IONISE network mainly includes three crossed chains of Beidou geostationary satellite total electron content (TEC)/scintillation receivers along 110°E, 23°N, and 40°N respectively, multistatic portable digital ionosondes and bistatic very high‐frequency radars. Based on the IONISE observations, we report some preliminary results of ionospheric disturbances and irregularities, including (1) initially generated and zonally drifting equatorial plasma bubbles and related scintillations, (2) traveling ionospheric disturbances from middle to low latitudes, (3) drift of strong sporadic E structures over a wide area of more than 1,000 km, (4) fine‐scale ionospheric perturbation and regional TEC gradient, and (5) general features of ionospheric response to geomagnetic storms. Possible mechanisms responsible for these ionospheric phenomena are discussed. The IONISE provides new data set for investigation on ionospheric disturbances of various scales in a broad region with dense observations along specific latitude/longitude.
An Ionospheric Observation Network for Irregularity and Scintillation in East/Southeast Asia was recently deployed. Using ionospheric total electron content (TEC) from the two crossed Beidou geostationary satellite receiver chains of the network along 110°E and 23°N and Doppler velocity measurements from the Sanya (18.3°N, 109.6°E) portable digital ionosonde, we report first observations of low latitude TEC oscillations synchronized over a wide longitude range in East/Southeast Asia, which occur at nighttime, after the main phase of the geomagnetic storm on 20 April 2018. A comparison among TEC and Doppler velocity and interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) Bz component shows that the periodic TEC enhancements correlate with F region downward plasma drifts and IMF Bz southward turnings. The results suggest that the quasiperiodic southward turnings of IMF Bz could produce multiple short‐lived westward prompt penetration electric fields, which contribute to driving the nighttime low latitude TEC oscillations simultaneously over the wide longitude range.
22 December 2024 in Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics
Plasma blob is generally a low‐latitude phenomenon occurring at the poleward edge of equatorial plasma bubble (EPB) during post‐sunset periods. Here we report a case of midlatitude ionospheric plasma blob‐like structures occurring along with super EPBs over East Asia around sunrise during the May 2024 great geomagnetic storm. Interestingly, the blob‐like structures appeared at both the poleward and westward edges of EPBs, reached up to 40°N magnetic latitudes, and migrated westward several thousand kilometers together with the bubble. The total electron content (TEC) inside the blob‐like structures was enhanced by ∼50 TEC units relative to the ambient ionosphere. The blob‐like structure at the EPB poleward edge could be partly linked with field‐aligned plasma accumulation due to poleward development of bubble. For the blob‐like structure at the EPB west side, one possible mechanism is that it was formed and enhanced accompanying the bubble evolution and westward drift.