Nighttime medium‐scale traveling ionospheric disturbances (MSTIDs) observed in 630‐nm airglow images at middle latitudes are known to have a predominantly northwest‐southeast phase surface and to move southwestward in the Northern Hemisphere of Earth. However, the mechanisms of MSTID generation and their systematic southwestward motion have not been clarified. In this paper, we report the “northeastward” motion of the MSTIDs observed at Paratunka, Far East Russia (52.97°N, 158.25°E), using an all‐sky 630‐nm airglow imager at 2000–2300 LT on 19 August 2007. The MSTIDs moved first southwestward but then back northeastward in the northern part of the images. The northeastward motion of the MSTIDs took place coincident with a F layer height decrease observed by an ionosonde at Paratunka. The F layer height decrease was also confirmed by an enhancement of the 630‐nm airglow intensity, which seemed to propagate from northeast to southwest. This fact suggests that the F layer height decrease was caused by poleward wind enhancement rather than westward electric field. These observations imply that the F layer height decrease or the poleward thermospheric wind has some role in the northeastward turning of the MSTID propagation direction.

The Solar-Terrestrial Environment Laboratory (STEL) induction magnetometer network has been developed to investigate the propagation characteristics of high-frequency geomagnetic pulsations in the Pc1 frequency range (0.2-5 Hz). Five induction magnetometers were installed in the period 2005-2008 at Athabasca in Canada, Magadan and Paratunka in Far East Russia, and Moshiri and Sata in Japan. The sensitivity of these magnetometers is between 0.3 and 13 V/nT at turnover frequencies of 1.7-5.5 Hz. GPS time pulses are used for accurate triggering of the 64-Hz data sampling. We show examples of PiB/Pc1 magnetic pulsations observed at these five stations, as well as the harmonic structure of ionospheric Alfvén resonators observed at Moshiri. We found that the Pc1 packets are slightly modulated as they propagate from high to low latitudes in the ionospheric duct. These network observations are expected to contribute to our understanding of Pc1-range magnetic pulsations and their interaction with relativistic electrons by combining the obtained results with future satellite missions that observe radiation belt particles.

Abstract.One hundred three cases of a bay-like depression in the strength of the Ez component of the quasistatic electric field in the near-Earth atmosphere, observed from 1997 to 2002 on Kamchatka, have been analyzed statistically. It has been shown that the most probable length of a bay is 40-60 min. The most probable drops in Ez are minus 106-300 V/m. The dependence of these values on an earthquake class and a distance to the epicenter was not found. The probability of earthquake prediction over 24 h before an earthquake based on the Ez anomaly is 36%.

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The effects of a geomagnetic storm on 5 April 2010 on electric parameters of the atmospheric near-ground layer in Kamchatka have been investigated. Three processes over the course of the storm were identified. Air electroconductivity began to decrease 4 h before the storm, and this lasted for 20 h. The storm's sudden commencement caused potential gradient oscillations with amplitudes up to 300 V/m. During the stages of the storm, a significant increase in the atmosphere ion content unipolarity coefficient occurred. Findings