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  1. Abstract

    A statistical picture of the occurrence and characteristics of Traveling Ionospheric Disturbances (TIDs) over the Antarctic Peninsula is established using Global Navigation Satellite System Total Electron Content and High Frequency sounding observations. The measured parameters of the majority of the disturbances allow classifying them as medium scale TIDs (MSTIDs). Overall, the observed climatology of ionospheric disturbances in the Antarctic Peninsula region varies significantly with the season and makes it possible to differentiate two major types of the disturbances: winter daytime and summer nighttime, based on their occurrence periods and characteristics. During the Antarctic summer period, the disturbances are present mainly during the nighttime and morning hours, when the background plasma density is at maximum (due to Weddell Sea Anomaly). These disturbances predominantly propagate northwestward and their occurrence probability is well correlated with the sporadic E layer observations, suggesting that these are electrified MSTIDs. During the winter, the TID events are almost exclusively observed during the daytime. The propagation direction of the disturbances during the daytime shows a strong correlation with the background neutral wind direction in the thermosphere. A possible mechanism for this effect is wind filtering of the Atmospheric Gravity Waves originating in the troposphere, which indicates that their source is in the lower atmosphere. The periods of the TIDs also significantly differ between the seasons. Wintertime TIDs have noticeably shorter periods (10–50 min) than those observed during other parts of the year (30–140 min), which also likely reflects the fact that the two types of TIDs are generated by different physical mechanisms.

     
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  2. Abstract

    The importance of lightning has long been recognized from the point of view of climate‐related phenomena. However, the detailed investigation of lightning on global scales is currently hindered by the incomplete and spatially uneven detection efficiency of ground‐based global lightning detection networks and by the restricted spatio‐temporal coverage of satellite observations. We are developing different methods for investigating global lightning activity based on Schumann resonance (SR) measurements. SRs are global electromagnetic resonances of the Earth‐ionosphere cavity maintained by the vertical component of lightning. Since charge separation in thunderstorms is gravity‐driven, charge is typically separated vertically in thunderclouds, so every lightning flash contributes to the measured SR field. This circumstance makes SR measurements very suitable for climate‐related investigations. In this study, 19 days of global lightning activity in January 2019 are analyzed based on SR intensity records from 18 SR stations and the results are compared with independent lightning observations provided by ground‐based (WWLLN, GLD360, and ENTLN) and satellite‐based (GLM, LIS/OTD) global lightning detection. Daily average SR intensity records from different stations exhibit strong similarity in the investigated time interval. The inferred intensity of global lightning activity varies by a factor of 2–3 on the time scale of 3–5 days which we attribute to continental‐scale temperature changes related to cold air outbreaks from polar regions. While our results demonstrate that the SR phenomenon is a powerful tool to investigate global lightning, it is also clear that currently available technology limits the detailed quantitative evaluation of lightning activity on continental scales.

     
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