Ionospheric symmetry caused by geomagnetic declination over North America
We describe variations in total electron content (TEC) in the North American sector exhibiting pronounced longitudinal progression and symmetry with respect to zero magnetic declination. Patterns were uncovered by applying an empirical orthogonal function (EOF) decomposition procedure to a 12 year g...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
|---|---|
| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | en_US |
| Published: |
American Geophysical Union (AGU)
2016
|
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/102593 |
| _version_ | 1811093720358977536 |
|---|---|
| author | Zhang, Shun-Rong Chen, Ziwei Coster, Anthea J. Erickson, Philip J. Foster, John C. |
| author2 | Haystack Observatory |
| author_facet | Haystack Observatory Zhang, Shun-Rong Chen, Ziwei Coster, Anthea J. Erickson, Philip J. Foster, John C. |
| author_sort | Zhang, Shun-Rong |
| collection | MIT |
| description | We describe variations in total electron content (TEC) in the North American sector exhibiting pronounced longitudinal progression and symmetry with respect to zero magnetic declination. Patterns were uncovered by applying an empirical orthogonal function (EOF) decomposition procedure to a 12 year ground-based American longitude sector GPS TEC data set. The first EOF mode describes overall average TEC, while the strong influence of geomagnetic declination on the midlatitude ionosphere is found in the second EOF mode (or the second most significant component). We find a high degree of correlation between spatial variations in the second EOF mode and vertical drifts driven by thermospheric zonal winds, along with well-organized temporal variation. Results strongly suggest a causative mechanism involving varying declination with longitude along with varying zonal wind climatology with local time, season, and solar cycle. This study highlights the efficiency and key role played by the geomagnetic field effect in influencing mesoscale ionospheric structures over a broad midlatitude range. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T15:49:15Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/102593 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | en_US |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T15:49:15Z |
| publishDate | 2016 |
| publisher | American Geophysical Union (AGU) |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/1025932022-10-02T04:21:39Z Ionospheric symmetry caused by geomagnetic declination over North America Zhang, Shun-Rong Chen, Ziwei Coster, Anthea J. Erickson, Philip J. Foster, John C. Haystack Observatory Zhang, Shun-Rong Zhang, Shun-Rong Chen, Ziwei Coster, Anthea J. Erickson, Philip J. Foster, John C. We describe variations in total electron content (TEC) in the North American sector exhibiting pronounced longitudinal progression and symmetry with respect to zero magnetic declination. Patterns were uncovered by applying an empirical orthogonal function (EOF) decomposition procedure to a 12 year ground-based American longitude sector GPS TEC data set. The first EOF mode describes overall average TEC, while the strong influence of geomagnetic declination on the midlatitude ionosphere is found in the second EOF mode (or the second most significant component). We find a high degree of correlation between spatial variations in the second EOF mode and vertical drifts driven by thermospheric zonal winds, along with well-organized temporal variation. Results strongly suggest a causative mechanism involving varying declination with longitude along with varying zonal wind climatology with local time, season, and solar cycle. This study highlights the efficiency and key role played by the geomagnetic field effect in influencing mesoscale ionospheric structures over a broad midlatitude range. National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Grant ATM-0733510) National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Grant ATM-0856093) National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Grant AGS-1242204) China Scholarship Council Haystack Observatory 2016-05-23T02:16:36Z 2016-05-23T02:16:36Z 2013-10 2013-10 Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 00948276 2156-2202 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/102593 Zhang, Shun-Rong, Ziwei Chen, Anthea J. Coster, Philip J. Erickson, and John C. Foster. “Ionospheric Symmetry Caused by Geomagnetic Declination over North America.” Geophysical Research Letters 40, no. 20 (October 28, 2013): 5350–54. © 2013 American Geophysical Union en_US http://dx.doi.org/doi:10.1002/2013GL057933 Geophysical Research Letters Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use. application/pdf American Geophysical Union (AGU) Shun-Rong Zhang |
| spellingShingle | Zhang, Shun-Rong Chen, Ziwei Coster, Anthea J. Erickson, Philip J. Foster, John C. Ionospheric symmetry caused by geomagnetic declination over North America |
| title | Ionospheric symmetry caused by geomagnetic declination over North America |
| title_full | Ionospheric symmetry caused by geomagnetic declination over North America |
| title_fullStr | Ionospheric symmetry caused by geomagnetic declination over North America |
| title_full_unstemmed | Ionospheric symmetry caused by geomagnetic declination over North America |
| title_short | Ionospheric symmetry caused by geomagnetic declination over North America |
| title_sort | ionospheric symmetry caused by geomagnetic declination over north america |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/102593 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT zhangshunrong ionosphericsymmetrycausedbygeomagneticdeclinationovernorthamerica AT chenziwei ionosphericsymmetrycausedbygeomagneticdeclinationovernorthamerica AT costerantheaj ionosphericsymmetrycausedbygeomagneticdeclinationovernorthamerica AT ericksonphilipj ionosphericsymmetrycausedbygeomagneticdeclinationovernorthamerica AT fosterjohnc ionosphericsymmetrycausedbygeomagneticdeclinationovernorthamerica |