Navegando por Assunto "Ionosphere"

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    Advantages and disadvantages of VTEC, ROTI and airglow images in studying equatorial plasma bubbles
    (Elsevier) Souza, Ana Lucia Christovam de; Prol, Fabricio dos Santos; Muella, Marcio Tadeu de Assis Honorato; Picanço, Giorgio Arlan da Silva; Camargo, Paulo de Oliveira; Monico, João Francisco Galera
    Equatorial plasma bubbles (EPBs) are large-scale plasma depletion structures, observed near the geomagnetic equator and in low- latitude regions after sunset. Several instruments have been employed to study EPBs, such as ionosondes, in situ satellites, coherent and incoherent scatter radars, airglow imagers, GNSS radio occultation, and GNSS ground-based stations. Among these instruments, Total Electron Content (TEC) and Rate of TEC change Index (ROTI) data derived by GNSS measurements are presenting as outstand- ing data sources to study the climatology of EPBs. In this study, we evaluate the reliability of TEC and ROTI index for mapping iono- spheric plasma bubble structures in comparison to airglow images, demonstrating the performance of each technique and highlighting their respective advantages and disadvantages. The results demonstrate that TEC and ROTI time series are effective to identify plasma bubble occurrence in terms of temporal profiles, horizontal maps, and keograms for EPB velocity estimation. In terms of ionospheric temporal profiles, all techniques presented a good correspondence, TEC data may present direct characteristics of plasma bubbles, i.e., the intensity of the electron density depletions, while ROTI values are more suitable to present the occurrence, or not, of plasma bubbles. TEC maps showed advantages in mapping the horizontal distributions of EPBs, specially at the equatorial regions where ROTI failed to detect disturbances. Velocity estimates based on keograms from airglow data averaged 111 m/s, while TEC and ROTI index averaged 106 m/s and 107 m/s, respectively. Overall, TEC data presented better estimates of velocities due to the geometric and physical information, while ROTI offers statistical insights that often mask the natural propagation of EPBs.
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    Climatology of ionospheric amplitude scintillation on GNSS signals at south American sector during solar cycle 24
    (Elsevier) Macho, Eduardo Perez; Correia, Emília; Spogli, Luca; Muella, Marcio Tadeu de Assis Honorato
    Scintillations are caused by ionospheric irregularities and can affect the propagation of trans-ionospheric radio signals. One way to understand and predict the impact of such irregularities on Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signals is through the spatial/temporal characterization of the scintillation’s climatology during different phases of a solar cycle covering different latitudes and longitudes. This characterization is performed using amplitude scintillation index S4, during the full solar cycle 24, in the South American (SA) sector. The investigation considers the diurnal, daily, and seasonal variation of S4 index for climatological purpose, and the goal of this study is to investigate the scintillations covering a large spatial scale during the full solar cycle 24. The characterization shows a latitudinal asymmetry, whereas at the south, the scintillations were more frequent and their peak was more distant from the magnetic equator, which can be attributed by the South Atlantic Magnetic Anomaly (SAMA), and/or by the transequatorial meridional neutral winds. It also shows a longitudinal asymmetry, where the scintillations at the eastern sector occurred between November and February, while at the western sector, they occurred during the months of October, November, February and March, which can be attributed to the difference between the magnetic and geographic equators. The occurrence of scintillations during two distinct geomagnetic storms with similar storm time in the SA sector is also presented.
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    Effects of X2.8-class solar flare on the ionosphere occurred during the recovery phase of a geomagnetic storm over South American and Antarctic sectors
    (Elsevier) Abreu, Alessandro José de; Correia, Emilia; Venkatesh, Kavutarapu; Pignalberi, Alessio; Pezzopane, Michael; Pillat, Valdir Gil; Fagundes, Paulo Roberto; Gende, Mauricio Alfredo; Jesus, Rodolfo de
    In this investigation, we present and discuss the effects of an X2.8-class solar flare occurred on 14 December 2023 on the ionospheric F region and on the geomagnetic field over South American and Antarctic sectors. This flare coincides with the recovery phase of a geomag- netic storm. To this end, we rely on vertical total electron content (VTEC) observations from nearly 250 Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver stations over South American and Antarctic sectors, complemented by in-situ electron density observations from Swarm satellites, magnetometer measurements, and ionospheric sounding observations from ionosondes. The magnetic observations show a large increase in the variations of the horizontal component (DH) of the geomagnetic field and equatorial electrojet (EEJ) currents at all stations, syn- chronized with the increase in X-rays flux, indicating solar flare effects or magnetic crochet on the Earth’s geomagnetic field. VTEC shows how the impact of the solar flare on the ionosphere is enhanced from east to west of South America in the equatorial and low-latitudes. VTEC from a specific GPS satellite-receiver also shows great effects at mid-latitudes. Results are confirmed and further elaborated through Swarm in-situ observations. In addition, an asymmetry is observed in the equatorial ionization anomaly (EIA), in which the eastern South American sector shows an intensified EIA compared to the western sector. Ionospheric sounding observations by ionosondes show total fade out in the echo traces of the ionograms, characterizing blackouts in the radio signals from equatorial to low-latitudes. Overall, our results show that an X-class solar flare occurring near the limb of the solar disk is capable of producing effects on the Earth’s ionosphere with similar or even stronger intensities than flares occurring at the center of the solar disk.
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    Evidence of anti-correlation between sporadic (Es) layers occurrence and solar activity observed at low latitudes over the Brazilian sector
    (Elsevier) Fontes Neto, Pedro Alves; Muella, Marcio Tadeu de Assis Honorato; Resende, Laysa Cristina Araújo; Fagundes, Paulo Roberto
    Sporadic E-layers (Es) are thin and denser layers with high ionization observed at about 100–140 km altitude in the E region. Their formation is mainly associated with the tidal components of the diurnal and semidiurnal winds with the convergence of ions driven by the wind shear mechanism. This present work shows evidence of the relationship between the occurrence of Es layers and the solar activity at two observatories located in the Brazilian sector, the near-equatorial site of Palmas (PAL, 10.17 S; 48.33 W; dip lat. 7.31 ) and the low latitude station of Sa ̃o Jose ́ dos Campos (SJC, 23.18 S; 45.89 W; dip lat. 19.35 ). The analysis was performed from Decem- ber/2008 to November/2009 (a period of low solar activity) and from December/2013 to November/2014 (a period of high solar activity) using data collected from two digital ionosondes. Our results show an anti-correlation of the Es layer occurrence concerning the solar activity over both stations studied here. A more clearly observed anti-correlation at the SJC station can be attributed to a greater tidal amplitude at low latitudes. Other relevant aspects of the observations associated with the formation of the Es layers are highlighted and discussed.
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    Ionospheric disturbances in a large area of the terrestrial globe by two strong solar flares of September 6, 2017, the strongest space weather events in the last decade
    (Elsevier) Fagundes, Paulo Roberto; Pezzopane, Michael; Habarulema, John Bosco; Venkatesh, Karnam; Dias, Maukers Alem Lima; Tardelli, Alexandre; Abreu, Alessandro José de; Pillat, Valdir Gil; Pignalberi, Alessio; Bolzan, Maurício José Alves; Ribeiro, Brunno Augusto Gomes; Vieira, Francisco; Raulin, Jean-Pierre; Denardini, Clezio Marcos; Seemala, Gopi K.; Arcanjo, Mateus de Oliveira
    On September 6, 2017, the solar active region AR 2673 emitted two solar flares: the first at 08:57 UT (X2.2) and the second at 11:53 UT (X9.3); both were powerful enough to black-out high and low frequency radio waves (where UT is universal time). The X9.3 was the strongest solar flare event in the past decade. In this study, we took the advantage of these two extreme flare events to investigate cor- responding effects on the ionosphere using multi-instrument observations from magnetometers, Global Positioning System – Total Elec- tron content (GPS-TEC) receivers, ionosondes and Swarm satellites over a large geographical extent covering South American, African and European sectors. During the X2.2 flare, European and African sectors were sunlit and during X9.3 European, African, and South American sectors were sunlit and exposed to the solar flare radiation. During the X2.2 flare, there was an ionosonde blackout for a dura- tion of about 45 min, while during the X9.3 flare this blackout lasted for 1 h and 30 min. The blackout are seen over a large global extent which demonstrates the severity of solar flare events in disrupting the radio communication. The horizontal component of Earth’s geo- magnetic field has shown ripples and enhancements during these flare events. The ionospheric Vertical Total Electron Content (VTEC) showed a positive phase along with an intensification of the Equatorial Ionization Anomaly (EIA) over the South American and African sectors. The dynamical and physical processes associated with the TEC and EIA variabilities due to solar flare are discussed.
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    Ionospheric GPS-TEC responses from equatorial region to the EIA crest in the South American sector under intense space weather conditions
    (Elsevier) Abreu, Alessandro José de; Correia, Emilia; Denardini, Clezio Marcos; Jesus, Rodolfo de; Venkatesh, Kavutarapu; Roberto, Marisa; Abalde, José Ricardo; Fagundes, Paulo Roberto; Bolzan, Maurício José Alves; Gende, Maurício Alfredo
    We present and discuss the ionospheric F-region observations from equator to the equatorial ionization anomaly (EIA) regions over the South American sector during an intense space weather event occurred between 27 and May 29, 2017. During this geomagnetic storm, the symmetric-H (SYM-H) reached a minimum of − 142 nT at ~0700 UT on May 28, 2017. For this investigation, we analyze the vertical total electron content (VTEC) observations from a chain of nearly 120 Global Positioning System (GPS) stations. Magnetometer measurements obtained at two stations in the low latitude regions are also presented. The observations do not indicate prompt penetration electric field (PPEF) effects in the VTEC variations. Magnetometer’s observations over Cuiaba ´ (CBA) and Cachoeira Paulista (CXP) in central west and south parts of Brazil, respectively, have shown a strong crosscorrelation with SYM-H in the period between 3 and 48 h. The results also show positive ionospheric storm phase during the recovery phase on May 28, 2017. Positive effect during the recovery phase of the geomagnetic storm is possibly associated with effects of disturbances winds. During the recovery phase, a strong intensification of the EIA took place, possibly related to an additional ionization effect. The VTEC values show differences between the west and east sectors. This indicates that the EIA crest is stronger in the east sector than in the west sector, possibly due to the combination of disturbance wind effects and geomagnetic field geometry where in the east sector the field lines are more inclined.