Topside signature of medium-scale traveling ionospheric disturbances
Plasma blobs, localized plasma density enhancements that occur singularly or in periodic groups, have been observed by in situ sensors in the lower- and middle-latitude nighttime ionosphere. Traditionally, creation of blobs has been thought to be connected to equatorial plasma bubbles, which are...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Copernicus Publications
2014-08-01
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| Series: | Annales Geophysicae |
| Online Access: | https://www.ann-geophys.net/32/959/2014/angeo-32-959-2014.pdf |
| _version_ | 1798044584424505344 |
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| author | E. S. Miller H. Kil J. J. Makela R. A. Heelis E. R. Talaat E. R. Talaat A. Gross |
| author_facet | E. S. Miller H. Kil J. J. Makela R. A. Heelis E. R. Talaat E. R. Talaat A. Gross |
| author_sort | E. S. Miller |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Plasma blobs, localized plasma density enhancements that occur
singularly or in periodic groups, have been observed by in situ sensors in
the lower- and middle-latitude nighttime ionosphere. Traditionally, creation
of blobs has been thought to be connected to equatorial plasma bubbles, which
are localized plasma depletions. Here, we report the association of blobs
with medium-scale traveling ionospheric disturbances (MSTIDs). On
17 January 2010, an all-sky imager on the Caribbean island of Bonaire
(geographic: 12.190° N, 68.244° W; geomagnetic
22.46° N, 7.099° E) observed a nighttime electrified
MSTID propagating to the southwest. At the time of the MSTID's transit, the
Coupled Ion-Neutral Dynamics Investigation instrument onboard the
Communication/Navigation Outage Forecasting System satellite detected a group
of blobs along the same geomagnetic flux tubes. The electron density
variations measured at the satellite altitude, indicating the blobs, are
anticorrelated with the intensity variations of the
630.0 nm dissociative recombination emission measured on the same magnetic field lines. This relationship is explained by
a modulation of the O<sup>+</sup> profile altitude due to electric fields generated
within the MSTID. This idea is supported by in situ measurements of the
vertical ion velocity. We argue that common climatology between blobs and
MSTIDs reported in the literature, as well as this coincident observation,
suggest that blobs may be the in situ signature of MSTIDs in the topside
ionosphere. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T23:06:25Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-935f7a615438435ea856f018059628e5 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0992-7689 1432-0576 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T23:06:25Z |
| publishDate | 2014-08-01 |
| publisher | Copernicus Publications |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Annales Geophysicae |
| spelling | doaj.art-935f7a615438435ea856f018059628e52022-12-22T03:58:00ZengCopernicus PublicationsAnnales Geophysicae0992-76891432-05762014-08-013295996510.5194/angeo-32-959-2014Topside signature of medium-scale traveling ionospheric disturbancesE. S. Miller0H. Kil1J. J. Makela2R. A. Heelis3E. R. Talaat4E. R. Talaat5A. Gross6Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, 11100 Johns Hopkins Road, Laurel, Maryland, USAJohns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, 11100 Johns Hopkins Road, Laurel, Maryland, USADepartment of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois, USAW. B. Hansen Center for Space Sciences, University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, Texas, USAJohns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, 11100 Johns Hopkins Road, Laurel, Maryland, USANASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C., USASunspots Bonaire, BonairePlasma blobs, localized plasma density enhancements that occur singularly or in periodic groups, have been observed by in situ sensors in the lower- and middle-latitude nighttime ionosphere. Traditionally, creation of blobs has been thought to be connected to equatorial plasma bubbles, which are localized plasma depletions. Here, we report the association of blobs with medium-scale traveling ionospheric disturbances (MSTIDs). On 17 January 2010, an all-sky imager on the Caribbean island of Bonaire (geographic: 12.190° N, 68.244° W; geomagnetic 22.46° N, 7.099° E) observed a nighttime electrified MSTID propagating to the southwest. At the time of the MSTID's transit, the Coupled Ion-Neutral Dynamics Investigation instrument onboard the Communication/Navigation Outage Forecasting System satellite detected a group of blobs along the same geomagnetic flux tubes. The electron density variations measured at the satellite altitude, indicating the blobs, are anticorrelated with the intensity variations of the 630.0 nm dissociative recombination emission measured on the same magnetic field lines. This relationship is explained by a modulation of the O<sup>+</sup> profile altitude due to electric fields generated within the MSTID. This idea is supported by in situ measurements of the vertical ion velocity. We argue that common climatology between blobs and MSTIDs reported in the literature, as well as this coincident observation, suggest that blobs may be the in situ signature of MSTIDs in the topside ionosphere.https://www.ann-geophys.net/32/959/2014/angeo-32-959-2014.pdf |
| spellingShingle | E. S. Miller H. Kil J. J. Makela R. A. Heelis E. R. Talaat E. R. Talaat A. Gross Topside signature of medium-scale traveling ionospheric disturbances Annales Geophysicae |
| title | Topside signature of medium-scale traveling ionospheric disturbances |
| title_full | Topside signature of medium-scale traveling ionospheric disturbances |
| title_fullStr | Topside signature of medium-scale traveling ionospheric disturbances |
| title_full_unstemmed | Topside signature of medium-scale traveling ionospheric disturbances |
| title_short | Topside signature of medium-scale traveling ionospheric disturbances |
| title_sort | topside signature of medium scale traveling ionospheric disturbances |
| url | https://www.ann-geophys.net/32/959/2014/angeo-32-959-2014.pdf |
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