Extreme Poleward Expanding Super Plasma Bubbles Over Asia‐Pacific Region Triggered by Tonga Volcano Eruption During the Recovery‐Phase of Geomagnetic Storm

Abstract

Equatorial plasma bubbles (EPBs) are the irregularities in the post-sunset equatorial/low-latitude ionosphere, manifesting as spread-F in ionograms (Bekner & Wells, 1934), scintillations in radio signals (Whitney & Malik, 1968), bite-outs in ion-density measurements (Hanson & Sanatani, 1973), plume structures in radar maps (Woodman & La Hoz, 1976), and intensity depletions in airglow images (Weber et al., 1978). EPBs are initiated by Rayleigh-Taylor instability (Dungey, 1956) operating in the post-sunset bottom-side F-region where vertical plasma density gradient is anti-parallel to gravity, under favorable conditions of seed perturbations, sharper plasma density gradients, smaller ion-neutral collisions, and stronger vertical plasma drifts (Sultan, 1996). Several review articles discuss the history and progress in the theoretical and technical evolution of EPB monitoring (

Simulation Study of the 15 January 2022 Tonga Event: Development of Super Equatorial Plasma Bubbles

“…The upward velocity of these EPBs is ∼200 m/s Rajesh et al. (2022) reported EPBs rising at a rapid velocity (e.g., ∼280–420 m/s) up to 1,500 km and then slowing to ∼200 m/s consistent with our results, albeit at different longitudes. They also show disturbances in the altitude range 1,000–3,000 km around longitude 150° at time 11:50 UT.…”

“…We note that Rajesh et al. (2022) reported EPBs reaching ∼40°N in the longitude range 100°–150° based on the rate of total electron content index.…”

The Ionospheric Effects of the 2022 Hunga Tonga Volcano Eruption and the Associated Impacts on GPS Precise Point Positioning Across the Australian Region

“…Further, plots of VTEC in Figure 10 in this study agree well with the observations reported by Rajesh et al. (2022) in revealing the presence of a deep depletion over northeastern Australia. Here, we measure that depletion to be 48 TECU on the ridges and 6 TECU in the valley.…”

“…This structure over northeastern Australia thus fits the definition of a “super bubble” according to Ma and Maruyama (2006) and is in good agreement with the results of Rajesh et al. (2022). The impacts on GPS reported in the present study across the rest of northern Australia indicate that further analysis of this event farther toward the west across southern and southeastern Asia is needed.…”

“…(2022) reported a localized ionospheric plasma depletion in the vicinity of the volcano and increased equatorial plasma bubble (EPB) activity in the Asia‐Oceania low‐latitude region, which has been further supported by recent modeling efforts (Huba et al., 2022). Evidence of “super EPBs” has been reported spanning across Chinese (Sun et al., 2022) and Japanese/Australian (Rajesh et al., 2022) longitude sectors following the eruption. Aa et al.…”