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Creators/Authors contains: "Paxton, Larry_J"

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  1. Abstract We investigate the correlation of sporadic E (Es) with the occurrence of medium‐scale traveling ionospheric disturbances (MSTIDs) at night in middle latitudes (25°–40°N and 25°–40°S magnetic latitudes) by examining their occurrence climatology. The occurrence climatology of Es and MSTIDs is derived using the Challenging Minisatellite Payload satellite data acquired in 2001–2008 and 2001–2009, respectively. Electron density irregularities and radio scintillations are used as the detection proxies of MSTIDs and Es, respectively. The occurrence rate of MSTIDs shows a semi‐annual variation with the primary peak during June solstices and the secondary peak during December solstices in both hemispheres. However, the occurrence rate of Es shows a seasonal variation with a pronounced peak in summer in both hemispheres. The occurrence of MSTIDs during local summer and equinoxes is correlated with the occurrence of local Es, but the high occurrence rate of MSTIDs in local winter is not correlated with local winter hemisphere Es. MSTIDs in the winter hemisphere are correlated with magnetically conjugate MSTIDs in the summer hemisphere; these summer hemisphere MSTIDs are correlated with the occurrence of Es in the summer hemisphere. The occurrence rate of MSTIDs clearly shows an increase with decreasing solar activity, but the solar cycle dependence of Es is not obvious from the data. This observation suggests that the generation of MSTIDs is significantly affected by factors other than Es such as the growth rate of the Perkins instability, atmospheric gravity waves, and theFregion conductance. 
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  2. Abstract Electron density irregularities on the dayside in the low‐latitudeFregion are understood as remnants (or fossils) of nighttime plasma bubbles. We provide observational evidence of the connection of daytime irregularities to nighttime bubbles and the transport of the daytime irregularities by the vertical motion of the background ionosphere. The distributions of irregularities are derived using the measurements of the ion density by the first Republic of China satellite from March 1999 to June 2004. The seasonal and longitudinal distributions of daytime and nighttime irregularities in low latitudes show a close similarity. The high occurrence rate of daytime irregularities at the longitudes where strong irregularities occur frequently at night provides strong evidence of the association of daytime irregularities with nighttime bubbles. Nighttime irregularities are concentrated in the equatorial region, whereas daytime irregularities spread over broader latitudes. The seasonal and longitudinal variation of the latitudinal spread of daytime irregularities is consistent with the morphologies of plasma density and vertical plasma velocity. The zonal wave number 4 pattern, which corresponds to that in plasma density, is identified in the distribution of daytime irregularities. These observations lead to the conclusion that the morphology of daytime irregularities in the low‐latitudeFregion is dominated by the morphology of bubbles at night and the ionospheric fountain process on the dayside. 
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  3. Abstract This study reports different properties of ionospheric perturbations detected to the west and south of the Korean Peninsula after the Hunga‐Tonga volcanic eruption on 15 January 2022. Transient wave‐like total electron content (TEC) modulations and intense irregular TEC perturbations are detected in the west and south of the Korean Peninsula, respectively, about 8 hr after the eruption. The TEC modulations in the west propagate away from the epicenter with a speed of 302 m/s. Their occurrence time, propagation direction and velocity, and alignment with the surface air pressure perturbations indicate the generation of the TEC modulations by Lamb waves generated by the eruption. The strong TEC perturbations and L band scintillations in the south are interpreted in terms of the poleward extension of equatorial plasma bubbles (EPBs). We demonstrate the association of the EPBs with the volcanic eruption using the EPB occurrence climatology derived from Swarm satellite data. 
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