We demonstrate extreme ionospheric response to the large interplanetary electric fields during the “Halloween” storms that occurred on October 29 and 30, 2003. Within a few (2–5) hours of the time when the enhanced interplanetary electric field impinged on the magnetopause, dayside total electron content increases of ∼40% and ∼250% are observed for the October 29 and 30 events, respectively. During the Oct 30 event, ∼900% increases in electron content above the CHAMP satellite (∼400 km altitude) were observed at mid‐latitudes (±30 degrees geomagnetic). The geomagnetic storm‐time phenomenon of prompt penetration electric fields is a possible contributing cause of these electron content increases, producing dayside ionospheric uplift combined with equatorial plasma diffusion along magnetic field lines to higher latitudes, creating a “daytime super‐fountain” effect.

[1] The interplanetary shock/electric field event of 5-6 November 2001 is analyzed using ACE interplanetary data. The consequential ionospheric effects are studied using GPS receiver data from the CHAMP and SAC-C satellites and altimeter data from the TOPEX/ Poseidon satellite. Data from $100 ground-based GPS receivers as well as Brazilian Digisonde and Pacific sector magnetometer data are also used. The dawn-to-dusk interplanetary electric field was initially $33 mV/m just after the forward shock (IMF B Z = À48 nT) and later reached a peak value of $54 mV/m 1 hour and 40 min later (B Z = À78 nT). The electric field was $45 mV/m (B Z = À65 nT) 2 hours after the shock. This electric field generated a magnetic storm of intensity D ST = À275 nT. The dayside satellite GPS receiver data plus ground-based GPS data indicate that the entire equatorial and midlatitude (up to ±50°magnetic latitude (MLAT)) dayside ionosphere was uplifted, significantly increasing the electron content (and densities) at altitudes greater than 430 km (CHAMP orbital altitude). This uplift peaked $2 1/2 hours after the shock passage. The effect of the uplift on the ionospheric total electron content (TEC) lasted for 4 to 5 hours. Our hypothesis is that the interplanetary electric field ''promptly penetrated'' to the ionosphere, and the dayside plasma was convected (by E Â B) to higher altitudes. Plasma upward transport/convergence led to a $55-60% increase in equatorial ionospheric TEC to values above $430 km (at 1930 LT). This transport/convergence plus photoionization of atmospheric neutrals at lower altitudes caused a 21% TEC increase in equatorial ionospheric TEC at $1400 LT (from ground-based measurements). During the intense electric field interval, there was a sharp plasma ''shoulder'' detected at midlatitudes by the GPS receiver and altimeter satellites. This shoulder moves equatorward from À54°to À37°MLAT during the development of the main phase of the magnetic storm. We presume this to be an ionospheric signature of the plasmapause and its motion. The total TEC increase of this shoulder is $80%. Part of this increase may be due to a ''superfountain effect.'' The dayside ionospheric TEC above $430 km decreased to values $45% lower than quiet day values 7 to 9 hours after the beginning of the electric field event. The total equatorial ionospheric TEC decrease was $16%. This decrease occurred both at midlatitudes and at the equator. We presume that thermospheric winds and neutral composition changes produced by the storm-time Joule heating, disturbance dynamo electric fields, and electric fields at auroral and subauroral latitudes are responsible for these decreases.

Abstract. Two-dimensional total electron content (TEC)perturbations

Using global positioning system (GPS) data taken from 350 dual-frequency GPS receivers in Southern California in 2002, we investigated two-dimensional maps of total electron content (TEC) perturbations with a time resolution of 30 s and a spatial resolution of 0.15 • ×0.15 • in longitude and latitude to reveal statistical characteristics of medium-scale traveling ionospheric disturbances (MSTIDs). We found that MSTIDs can be categorized into three types. One type is daytime MSTIDs, which frequently occur in winter and equinoxes. Since most of the daytime MSTIDs propagated southeastward, we speculate that the daytime MSTIDs could be caused by atmospheric gravity waves in the thermosphere. A second type is nighttime MSTIDs, which frequently occur in summer. Nighttime MSTIDs propagate southwestward. This propagation direction is consistent with the idea that polarization electric fields could play an important role in generating nighttime MSTIDs. The third is dusk MSTIDs, which frequently occur in summer and propagate northwestward. Dusk MSTIDs could be caused by gravity waves originating from the sunset terminator because they have wavefronts almost parallel to the sunset terminator.

All the details of ionospheric disturbances following the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake were first revealed by the high-resolution GPS total electron content observation in Japan. The initial ionospheric disturbance appeared as sudden depletions following small impulsive TEC enhancements ∼7 minutes after the earthquake onset, near the epicenter. Then, concentric waves appeared to propagate in the radial direction with a velocity of 138-3,457 m/s. Zonally-extended enhancements of the TEC also appeared in the west of Japan. In the vicinity of the epicenter, short-period oscillations with a period of ∼4 minutes were observed. This paper focuses on the concentric waves. The concentric pattern indicates that they had a point source. The center of these structures, termed the "ionospheric epicenter", was located about 170 km from the epicenter in the southeast direction. According to the propagation characteristics, these concentric waves could be caused by atmospheric waves classified into three types: acoustic waves generated from a propagating Rayleigh wave, acoustic waves from the ionospheric epicenter, and atmospheric gravity waves from the ionospheric epicenter. The amplitude of the concentric waves was not uniform and was dependent on the azimuth of their propagation direction, which could not be explained by previously-proposed theory.

[1] Nighttime and daytime medium-scale traveling ionospheric disturbances (MSTIDs) are detected with dense and wide detrended total electron content (TEC) maps over North America using multiple GPS receiver networks. The TEC maps cover a wide region of 60-130°W and 24-54°N (30-65°N in geomagnetic latitude), and have a spatial resolution of 1.05°Â 1.05°in latitude and longitude (0.15°Â 0.15°with 7 Â 7 pixel smoothing) and a temporal resolution of 30 seconds. The TEC maps reveal, for the first time, that the nighttime MSTIDs propagate southwestward with 200 -500 km wavelengths over North America and have wavefronts longer than $2,000 km. We also observe that daytime MSTIDs with 300 -1,000 km wavelengths propagate southeastward until mid-afternoon and southwestward in the late afternoon. In the mid-to-late afternoon, these MSTIDs propagating in the different directions are superimposed. The TEC maps can be a new powerful tool to investigate the MSTIDs.

We explore the ionospheric effects of prompt penetration electric fields (PPEFs) for a variety of interplanetary magnetic field directions. We use the great magnetic storm of 30–31 October as an example of PPEF effects. For intense southward interplanetary magnetic fields (IMFs), inward plasma sheet convection occurs with the result of magnetospheric ring current formation and an intense magnetic storm. Concurrent with the above, positive phase ionospheric storms occur in the dayside, and negative phase ionospheric storms occur on the nightside, the topics of this paper. The dayside ionospheric storms due to PPEFs are characterized by transport of near‐equatorial plasma to higher altitudes and latitudes, forming a giant plasma fountain. These features are part of what is called the dayside ionospheric superfountain (DIS). For these southward IMFs, dusk and dawn plasma are predicted to be transported toward the dayside. For northward IMFs, negative phase ionospheric storms are expected on the dayside if the PPEFs indeed reach that region of space. IMF By components are expected to have weak or neglible ionospheric effects. On the basis of PPEF arguments, intervals of IMF By should not be related to geomagnetic storms (they are not). IMF By intervals should, however, cause a shearing of the magnetotail, a feature that has been previously reported in the literature.

[1] Occurrence characteristic of plasma bubble was studied using ground-based GPS receiver networks. The occurrence rate of plasma bubble derived from the global GPS network has higher spatial and temporal resolution than that derived from the other observational techniques because of its wide coverage of the observation. The physical characteristics of plasma bubble occurrence were studied in detail with this novel data set. Twenty-three GPS receivers around the dip equator were used to reveal the occurrence from 2000 to 2006. Characteristics of the monthly occurrence rates were different among the regions. Although it was found that sunset time lag effect plays an important role for the monthly variation, two asymmetries which could not be explained with the sunset time lag scenario were found: (1) asymmetry between two solstices and (2) asymmetry between two equinoxes. The seasonal variation of the F-region conductivity integrated along the geomagnetic field line could partially explain the solstice asymmetry. Semiannual occurrence rates from 2000 to 2006 were used to study the year-to-year variation from the high solar activity period to the low solar activity period. The dependency of the occurrence on the solar activity was different among the regions. Occurrence rates against the latitude/altitude were investigated in the Asian region in 2004. It was found that the occurrence was high and constant for a station whose height on the dip equator (HODE) was less than 700 km. They began to decrease when HODE was higher than 700 km and was almost zero where it was higher than 900 km.Citation: Nishioka, M., A. Saito, and T. Tsugawa (2008), Occurrence characteristics of plasma bubble derived from global groundbased GPS receiver networks,