Observing wave packets generated by solar terminator in TEC during typhoons

Abstract

Abstract. In this work, we study ionospheric disturbances excited by the passage of the solar terminator (ST) during tropical cyclones, using total electron content (TEC) data. We have considered 16 intense tropical cyclones (typhoons) that acted in the northwest of the Pacific Ocean near the territory of Japan. We analyze two-dimensional distributions of the number of registered wave packets (WPs) depending on various parameters: local time, WP maximum amplitude, and distance to typhoon. It is shown that in most cases the maximum number of WPs is observed at a distance less than 500-1500 km from the typhoon center and near the time of evening solar terminator passage. For typhoons occurring during autumn periods, the maximum number of WPs is recorded at daytime, and, apparently, is not associated with ST. Distributions of the number of WPs depending on their amplitude have a similar form for all the cases considered, with a maximum of about 0.2 TECU. At the same time, for some typhoons there are a large number of WPs with amplitude up to 0.6-0.8 TECU, which is significantly higher than WP amplitudes under quiet conditions. We briefly discuss the mechanism of possible interaction between ionospheric disturbances caused by two different sources (tropical cyclones and ST passage).

Disturbances in the Ionosphere and Distortion of Radio Wave Characteristics That Accompanied the Super Typhoon Lekima Event of 4–12 August 2019

“…The coupling between the subsystems is made more active under the action of sources releasing significant amounts of energy. Examples of such sources include earthquakes (Afraimovich & Perevalova, 2006; Krasnov et al., 2015; Laštovička et al., 2010; Liu et al., 2016; Pulinets & Boyarchuk, 2004; Pulinets et al., 2015), tsunamis (Artru et al., 2005; Galvan et al., 2011, 2012; Liu et al., 2006), volcano eruptions (Liu et al., 1982; Roberts et al., 1982), powerful atmospheric processes (Bertin et al., 1975; Bondur et al., 2008; Chernogor, 2006, 2012; Kelley & Dao, 2018; Nishioka et al., 2013; Polyakova & Perevalova, 2013; Šindelárová, Burešová, Chum, et al., 2009, Šindelárová, Burešová, Chum, 2009; Šindelárová et al., 2015), the dawn and dusk terminators (Edemsky & Yasyukevich, 2018), geospace and tropical storms (Buonsanto, 1999; Chernogor et al., 2020; Gonzalez et al., 1994; Laštovička & Chum, 2017; Lathuillère et al., 2002; Liu et al., 1996; Vadas & Crowley, 2010), large celestial bodies falling into the terrestrial atmosphere (Chernogor & Rozumenko, 2013; Gehrels et al., 1994; Luo et al., 2020). In addition to natural sources, anthropogenic sources include large rocket engine burns (Afraimovich & Perevalova, 2006; Chernogor & Blaunstein, 2019; Chernogor & Rozumenko, 2013), powerful chemical and nuclear explosions (Blanc & Jacobson, 1989; Blanc & Rickel, 1989; Calais et al., 1998; Fitzgerald, 1997; Jacobson et al., 1988), chemical releases in the ionosphere (Haerendel & Sagdeev, 1981; Häusler et al., 1986).…”