Irregularities in the African ionosphere associated with total electron content anomalies observed during high solar activity levels
In this paper, we investigate anomalies in total electron content (TEC) from 7 stations of the Africa Geodetic Reference Frame (AFREF) during the initial and recovery stages of the geomagnetic storm of 19 February 2014. Additionally, we study geomagnetic storms under the solar activity ascending per...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Frontiers Media S.A.
2022-09-01
|
| Series: | Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fspas.2022.947473/full |
| _version_ | 1811214334386241536 |
|---|---|
| author | Chukwuma Moses Anoruo Chukwuma Moses Anoruo Babatunde Rabiu Daniel Okoh Francisca Nneka Okeke Kingsley Chukwudi Okpala |
| author_facet | Chukwuma Moses Anoruo Chukwuma Moses Anoruo Babatunde Rabiu Daniel Okoh Francisca Nneka Okeke Kingsley Chukwudi Okpala |
| author_sort | Chukwuma Moses Anoruo |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In this paper, we investigate anomalies in total electron content (TEC) from 7 stations of the Africa Geodetic Reference Frame (AFREF) during the initial and recovery stages of the geomagnetic storm of 19 February 2014. Additionally, we study geomagnetic storms under the solar activity ascending period of March 2012 and low solar activity of May 2017 to emphasize scintillation effects, especially during the nighttime. We employ a 15-days median-average sliding window to study the latitudinal patterns of relative TEC (rTEC) and determine the storm ionospheric irregularities using the rate of TEC index (ROTI). The low-latitude stations show larger rTEC variations during the storm than the midlatitude stations. ROTI strength >1 TECU/min is found at low latitude stations during postsunset and <1 TECU/min at mid latitudes during daytime. The results from this study show that rTEC differences between midlatitude stations may be caused by dynamo of the electric field originating from energy input during geomagnetic disturbances. We observed a low latitude significant intensity of ionospheric irregularities and established that low latitude ionospheric irregularities are more pronounced during the storm initial and recovery stages. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T06:01:30Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-53c784b94ecb4e448f247a156504ca5d |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2296-987X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T06:01:30Z |
| publishDate | 2022-09-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-53c784b94ecb4e448f247a156504ca5d2022-12-22T03:45:00ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences2296-987X2022-09-01910.3389/fspas.2022.947473947473Irregularities in the African ionosphere associated with total electron content anomalies observed during high solar activity levelsChukwuma Moses Anoruo0Chukwuma Moses Anoruo1Babatunde Rabiu2Daniel Okoh3Francisca Nneka Okeke4Kingsley Chukwudi Okpala5Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, NigeriaCenter for Atmospheric Research, National Space Research and Development Agency, Anyigba, NigeriaCenter for Atmospheric Research, National Space Research and Development Agency, Anyigba, NigeriaCenter for Atmospheric Research, National Space Research and Development Agency, Anyigba, NigeriaDepartment of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, NigeriaDepartment of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, NigeriaIn this paper, we investigate anomalies in total electron content (TEC) from 7 stations of the Africa Geodetic Reference Frame (AFREF) during the initial and recovery stages of the geomagnetic storm of 19 February 2014. Additionally, we study geomagnetic storms under the solar activity ascending period of March 2012 and low solar activity of May 2017 to emphasize scintillation effects, especially during the nighttime. We employ a 15-days median-average sliding window to study the latitudinal patterns of relative TEC (rTEC) and determine the storm ionospheric irregularities using the rate of TEC index (ROTI). The low-latitude stations show larger rTEC variations during the storm than the midlatitude stations. ROTI strength >1 TECU/min is found at low latitude stations during postsunset and <1 TECU/min at mid latitudes during daytime. The results from this study show that rTEC differences between midlatitude stations may be caused by dynamo of the electric field originating from energy input during geomagnetic disturbances. We observed a low latitude significant intensity of ionospheric irregularities and established that low latitude ionospheric irregularities are more pronounced during the storm initial and recovery stages.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fspas.2022.947473/fullTEC anomalieslow latitude irregularitiesgeomagnetic stormAfrica geodetic reference frameROTI |
| spellingShingle | Chukwuma Moses Anoruo Chukwuma Moses Anoruo Babatunde Rabiu Daniel Okoh Francisca Nneka Okeke Kingsley Chukwudi Okpala Irregularities in the African ionosphere associated with total electron content anomalies observed during high solar activity levels Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences TEC anomalies low latitude irregularities geomagnetic storm Africa geodetic reference frame ROTI |
| title | Irregularities in the African ionosphere associated with total electron content anomalies observed during high solar activity levels |
| title_full | Irregularities in the African ionosphere associated with total electron content anomalies observed during high solar activity levels |
| title_fullStr | Irregularities in the African ionosphere associated with total electron content anomalies observed during high solar activity levels |
| title_full_unstemmed | Irregularities in the African ionosphere associated with total electron content anomalies observed during high solar activity levels |
| title_short | Irregularities in the African ionosphere associated with total electron content anomalies observed during high solar activity levels |
| title_sort | irregularities in the african ionosphere associated with total electron content anomalies observed during high solar activity levels |
| topic | TEC anomalies low latitude irregularities geomagnetic storm Africa geodetic reference frame ROTI |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fspas.2022.947473/full |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT chukwumamosesanoruo irregularitiesintheafricanionosphereassociatedwithtotalelectroncontentanomaliesobservedduringhighsolaractivitylevels AT chukwumamosesanoruo irregularitiesintheafricanionosphereassociatedwithtotalelectroncontentanomaliesobservedduringhighsolaractivitylevels AT babatunderabiu irregularitiesintheafricanionosphereassociatedwithtotalelectroncontentanomaliesobservedduringhighsolaractivitylevels AT danielokoh irregularitiesintheafricanionosphereassociatedwithtotalelectroncontentanomaliesobservedduringhighsolaractivitylevels AT franciscannekaokeke irregularitiesintheafricanionosphereassociatedwithtotalelectroncontentanomaliesobservedduringhighsolaractivitylevels AT kingsleychukwudiokpala irregularitiesintheafricanionosphereassociatedwithtotalelectroncontentanomaliesobservedduringhighsolaractivitylevels |