Generation and characteristics of equatorial plasma bubbles detected by the C/NOFS satellite near the sunset terminator

Huang, Chao-Tsung; Beaujardière, O. de La; Roddy, P. A.; Hunton, D. E.; Ballenthin, J. O.; Hairston, M. R.

doi:10.1029/2012ja018163

Cited by 61 publications

(73 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…The observed EPBs had maximum zonal widths of 100–500 km and propagated distance of 440–3000 km toward the east with velocities of 83 to 162 m s −1 , which are consistent with those in previous studies [ Kelley , ; Chapagain et al , ; Makela and Otsuka , ]. The lifetime of each striation was in the range from 50 min to 7 h. The lifetimes of EPBs for several hours are consistent with the (C/NOFS) observation by Huang et al [] who observed lifetimes of 3 and 7 h during high and low solar activities, respectively. The shortest lifetime of an EPB obtained from the ROTI keogram of 50 min was characterized by a small zonal width and low ROTI value.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Continuous generation and two‐dimensional structure of equatorial plasma bubbles observed by high‐density GPS receivers in Southeast Asia

et al. 2014

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High‐density GPS receivers located in Southeast Asia (SEA) were utilized to study the two‐dimensional structure of ionospheric plasma irregularities in the equatorial region. The longitudinal and latitudinal variations of tens of kilometer‐scale irregularities associated with equatorial plasma bubbles (EPBs) were investigated using two‐dimensional maps of the rate of total electron content change index (ROTI) from 127 GPS receivers with an average spacing of about 50–100 km. The longitudinal variations of the two‐dimensional maps of GPS ROTI measurement on 5 April 2011 revealed that 16 striations of EPBs were generated continuously around the passage of the solar terminator. The separation distance between the subsequent onset locations varied from 100 to 550 km with 10 min intervals. The lifetimes of the EPBs observed by GPS ROTI measurement were between 50 min and over 7 h. The EPBs propagated 440–3000 km toward the east with velocities of 83–162 m s−1. The longitudinal variations of EPBs by GPS ROTI keogram coincided with the depletions of 630 nm emission observed using the airglow imager. Six EPBs were observed by GPS ROTI along the meridian of Equatorial Atmosphere Radar (EAR), while only three EPBs were detected by the EAR. The high‐density GPS receivers in SEA have an advantage of providing time continuous descriptions of latitudinal/longitudinal variations of EPBs with both high spatial resolution and broad geographical coverage. The spatial periodicity of the EPBs could be associated with a wavelength of the quasiperiodic structures on the bottomside of the F region which initiate the Rayleigh‐Taylor instability.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Continuous generation and two‐dimensional structure of equatorial plasma bubbles observed by high‐density GPS receivers in Southeast Asia

et al. 2014

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“…Huang et al . [] recently reported the generation of equatorial plasma bubbles in the evening sector observed by the Communication/Navigation Outage Forecasting System (C/NOFS) satellite. They found that plasma bubbles can be continuously generated near the sunset terminator for 12 h over the longitudinal range of Asia, Africa, and the Atlantic region.…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 84%

Long‐lasting daytime equatorial plasma bubbles observed by the C/NOFS satellite

et al. 2013

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[1] We report the first observations of long-lasting daytime equatorial plasma bubbles with the Communication/Navigation Outage Forecasting System (C/NOFS) satellite. The most unusual features of the plasma bubbles are the persistence from the post-midnight sector through the afternoon sector and the extremely long lifetime of 12 h. In one case, the plasma bubbles were generated at 02:00-03:00 LT near the end of the main phase of a moderate magnetic storm and detected by C/NOFS over eight successive orbits, and the decrease of the ion density inside the bubbles was still as large as~30% at 14:00-15:00 LT. In another case, one group of plasma bubbles was generated near the sunset terminator and existed over the entire nighttime until the post-sunrise sector (06:00-08:00 LT), and another group of plasma bubbles was first detected at 04:00-06:00 LT and lasted until 11:00 LT. The latter group of bubbles occurred following a sharp northward turning of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) near the end of the main phase of a weak magnetic storm, and the overshielding electric field caused by the IMF northward turning and the storm time disturbance dynamo might both have contributed to the generation of the bubbles. The plasma bubbles reached 800 km or higher in altitude during daytime. The high altitudes may be critical for the long lifetime of the bubbles: the photo-ionization rate decreases rapidly with altitude. The photo-ionization process may take a long time to produce enough new plasma particles to fill the daytime bubbles at high altitudes.

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“…Observational evidence of large-scale wave structure and its possible role in the generation of ESF irregularities was reported by Tsunoda and White (1981) and Thampi et al (2009). Although ESF irregularities and plasma bubbles appear to be periodic sometimes (e.g., Huang et al 2013), they are irregular and not periodic in most cases (e.g., Huang et al 2012). Choi et al (2017) analyzed C/NOFS data and found that a representative periodicity does not exist in the occurrence of bubbles and that the bubble spacing is generally irregular.…”

Section: Definition Of Esf Irregularitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…If only a small number of events are used, it is likely to find that ESF occurs when the PRE is larger than some values. For example, Huang et al [2012] analyzed C/NOFS data in 2 days and found that plasma bubbles were generated during 15 orbits when the PRE peak V i was 40-70 m/s. If we only examined these 15 events, the conclusion would be that plasma bubbles occurred when the PRE peak V i was larger than 40 m/s.…”

Section: Connection Among the Three Relationships Between The Pre Andmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of the postsunset vertical plasma drift on the generation of equatorial spread F

Huang

2018

Prog Earth Planet Sci

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Equatorial spread F (ESF) irregularities are caused by plasma instability processes in the equatorial ionosphere and especially related to plasma bubble phenomena in the topside F region. Plasma bubbles result from nonlinear evolution of the Rayleigh-Taylor instability. The prereversal enhancement (PRE) of the postsunset vertical plasma drift increases the height of the equatorial F layer, creating conditions conducive to the growth of the Rayleigh-Taylor instability, and is an important factor that controls the generation of ESF. Three different relationships of the quantitative connection between the PRE and ESF occurrence have been derived. (1) A threshold PRE must be reached for the occurrence of ESF. ESF will be generated when the PRE is larger than the threshold and will not be generated when the PRE is smaller than the threshold. (2) The occurrence probability of ESF increases approximately linearly with the PRE. (3) The occurrence probability of ESF is characterized by a continuous probability distribution as a function of the PRE magnitude. The second and third relationships imply that the PRE can be used to specify the occurrence probability of ESF. This paper will review these relationships and discuss how these relationships are connected to each other. The effects of seeding perturbations on the generation and global distribution of ESF will be briefly discussed.

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Generation and characteristics of equatorial plasma bubbles detected by the C/NOFS satellite near the sunset terminator

Cited by 61 publications

References 33 publications

Continuous generation and two‐dimensional structure of equatorial plasma bubbles observed by high‐density GPS receivers in Southeast Asia

Continuous generation and two‐dimensional structure of equatorial plasma bubbles observed by high‐density GPS receivers in Southeast Asia

Long‐lasting daytime equatorial plasma bubbles observed by the C/NOFS satellite

Effects of the postsunset vertical plasma drift on the generation of equatorial spread F

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