In this study, Global Ionosphere Specification (GIS) based on Gauss‐Markov Kalman filter assimilation of slant total electron content observed from ground‐based global positioning system receivers and space‐based radio occultation instrumentations is applied to investigate the ionospheric day‐to‐day tidal variability during the 2009 stratospheric sudden warming (SSW) period. Including the improved daily three‐dimensional global electron density distribution from GIS enables us to retrieve the daily solar tidal solution by using least squares tidal analysis. We find prominent reductions followed by enhancements in the amplitude of the solar semidiurnal migrating tide (SW2) after the peak warming, with recurrent phase variations occurring at low magnetic latitudes over a period of about 15 days. This is close to the beating period (15.13 day) between SW2 and lunar semidiurnal (M2), thus suggesting the existence of strong M2, and our results demonstrate that the intensification of M2 exists only during the SSW period. Additionally, M2 acts as the key contributor to make the semidiurnal ionospheric perturbations shift toward later local times. Our tidal analyses of daily GIS thus provide evidence for the combined impact of amplitudes and phases of the SW2 and M2 in producing semidiurnal variations in ionosphere during the 2009 SSW.
Mesospheric winds from three longitudinal sectors at 65°N and 54°N latitude are combined to diagnose the zonal wave numbers (
- Award ID(s):
- 1651464
- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10451696
- Publisher / Repository:
- DOI PREFIX: 10.1029
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Geophysical Research Letters
- Volume:
- 47
- Issue:
- 23
- ISSN:
- 0094-8276
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
More Like this
-
Abstract -
Abstract The nature of the variability of the Total Electron Content (TEC) over Europe is investigated during 2009 and 2019 Northern Hemisphere (NH) SSW events in this study by using a combination of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) based TEC observations and Thermosphere‐Ionosphere Electrodynamics General Circulation Model (TIE‐GCM) simulations. To simulate the SSW effects in TIE‐GCM, the dynamical fields from the Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model with thermosphere and ionosphere extension (WACCM‐X) simulations of 2009 and 2019 SSWs are specified at the TIE‐GCM lower boundary. The observed and simulated TEC are in overall good agreement and therefore the simulations are used to understand the sources of mid‐latitude TEC variability during both SSWs. Through comparison of TIE‐GCM simulations with and without geomagnetic forcing, we find that the TEC variability during the 2019 SSW event, was predominantly geomagnetically forced, while for the 2009 SSW, the major variability in TEC was accounted for by the changes in vertically propagating migrating semidiurnal solar (SW2) and lunar (M2) tides. By comparing the TIE‐GCM simulations with and without the SW2 and M2 tides, we find that these semidiurnal tides contribute to
20%–25% increase in the quiet background TEC. -
Abstract Total electron content (TEC) and L‐band scintillations measured by several networks of GPS and GNSS receivers that operate in South and Central America and the Caribbean region are used to observe the morphology of the equatorial ionization anomaly (EIA), examine the evolution of plasma bubbles, and investigate the enhancement of L‐band scintillations that occurred on February 12 and 13, 2016. A few weak and short magnetic storms developed these days, and a minor sudden stratospheric warming (SSW) event was initiated a few days before. During these unusual conditions, TEC maps reported a split of the otherwise continuous crests of the EIA and the formation of a large‐scale (thousands of kilometers) almost‐circular structure. The western part of the southern crest faded, and a north‐south aligned segment developed near the center of the South American continent, joining the north and south crests of the EIA, forming an anomaly that resembled a closed loop on the eastern side of the continent. Concurrently with the anomaly events, several GPS stations reported increases in the L‐band scintillation index from 0.4 to values greater than 1. We analyzed TEC values from receivers between ±6° from the magnetic equator to identify and follow TEC depletions associated with plasma bubbles when they reach different stations. Although the magnetic activity was moderate (
K p = 3°), we believe that the anomaly redistribution and the scintillation enhancements are not related to a prompt penetration electric field but to enhancing the semidiurnal lunar tide propitiated by the onset of the minor SSW event. We found that depending on the lunar tide phase cycle, the neutral wind's meridional component can augment sub‐km scale irregularities and enhance L‐band scintillations through the wind gradient instability when U·n < 0 or the action of wind gradients (U) within the bubbles. Our observations imply that the SSW event enables prominent changes in the thermosphere wind system at F‐region altitudes. -
Abstract Using data collected from the Arecibo incoherent scatter radar during 5–10 February 2016, we present a study on the quarterdiurnal tide (QDT) from 250 to 360 km. A sudden stratospheric warming (SSW) event occurred on 8 February coincided with our observation. The maximum amplitude of the QDT, at ~37 m/s, is comparable with the diurnal tide and much larger than the semidiurnal tide. The QDT is largely evanescent. Our results manifest that the
F region QDT could be as important as the diurnal and semidiurnal tides. The tidal waves show large variability before and after the commencement of the SSW. Our analysis indicates that the enhancement of the QDT is most likely due to the effect of the SSW. Nonlinear interaction of the diurnal tide with the terdiurnal tide is found to play a significant role in amplifying the QDT during the SSW event. -
Abstract Sudden stratospheric warmings (SSW) are large‐scale disruptions of the wintertime state of the stratosphere that can affect the circulation at synoptic and global scales, including altitudes up to the mesopause in both winter and summer hemispheres. In this study, the response of the summer mesosphere is analyzed during the SSW in the winter stratosphere. In particular, we focus on major SSW events where the climatological stratopause disappears and subsequently reforms at higher altitude, which we refer to as “extreme SSW” in this article. The summer mesosphere response to such extreme SSW events is analyzed in three different phases: (a) stratosphere warming phase, (b) stratopause discontinuity phase, and (c) stratopause reformation phase. Composites of anomalies with respect to climatology derived from the Microwave Limb Sounder and the extended version of the Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model with specified dynamics are analyzed. The polar summer mesosphere cools during the stratospheric warming phase and warms in subsequent phases. A detailed lag‐correlation analysis shows strong negative correlation of −0.6 to −0.8 between the summer mesosphere and the winter stratosphere during the stratosphere warming phase, and a positive correlation of 0.4–0.6 in the phases thereafter. An attempt is made to explain the apparent drivers and dynamics responsible for these couplings, supported with evidence from observations and model output.