Steepening Plasma Density Spectra in the Ionosphere: The Crucial Role Played by a Strong E‐Region

Ivarsen, Magnus F.; St.-Maurice, J.-P.; Jin, Yaqi; Park, Jaeheung; Miloch, W. J.; Spicher, Andres; Kwak, Young‐Sil; Clausen, L. B. N.

doi:10.1029/2021ja029401

Cited by 13 publications

(44 citation statements)

References 86 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…In summary, the RED accommodated weaker substructures (Figure 8b) and softer spectra (Figure 8c) than the ambient did. The results may be attributed to the following two facts: (a) As mentioned earlier, the RED does not seem to support enduring secondary instabilities that might inject new fluctuation energy, and (b) without energy injection, natural dissipation of ionospheric irregularities is faster for smaller scales (e.g., Ivarsen, St. Maurice et al., 2021, Equation 1).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 86%

Coordinated Observations of Rocket Exhaust Depletion: GOLD, Madrigal TEC, and Multiple Low‐Earth‐Orbit Satellites

et al. 2022

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

A plasma density hole was created in the ionosphere by a rocket launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida near local sunset on 30 August 2020, which is called rocket exhaust depletion (RED). The hole persisted for several hours into the night and was observed in total electron content (TEC) maps, the Global‐scale Observations of the Limb and Disk (GOLD) imager, and multiple low‐earth‐orbit satellites. The RED created a nightglow pit in the GOLD 135.6 nm image. Swarm satellites found that the RED exhibited insignificant changes in electron/ion temperature and field‐aligned currents. On the other hand, magnetic field strength was enhanced inside the RED by a few tenths of a nanotesla. Assimilation data products of the Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere, and Climate 2 (COSMIC‐2) mission reveal that ionospheric slab thickness increased at the center of the RED, which is supported by combined analyses of the GOLD and TEC data. The RED did not host conspicuous substructures that are stronger and longer‐lasting than the ambient plasma did.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 86%

Coordinated Observations of Rocket Exhaust Depletion: GOLD, Madrigal TEC, and Multiple Low‐Earth‐Orbit Satellites

et al. 2022

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…We propose that the time delay may occur through a 'memory effect'. Particle precipitation into the ionospheric E-region enhances conductance and causes a widespread irregularity dissipation and redistribution of energy (e.g., Ivarsen et al, 2021). The influx of particles increases the plasma density leading to ionization and prolonging recombination.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ionospheric plasma structuring in relation to auroral particle precipitation

Enengl

Kotova

Jin

et al. 2023

J. Space Weather Space Clim.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Auroral particle precipitation potentially plays a main role in ionospheric plasma structuring. The impact of auroral particle precipitation on plasma structuring is investigated using multi-point measurements from scintillation receivers and all sky cameras from Longyearbyen, Ny-Ålesund and Hornsund on Svalbard. This provides us with the unique possibility of studying the spatial and temporal dynamics of the aurora. Here we consider three case studies to investigate how plasma structuring is related to different auroral forms. We demonstrate that plasma structuring impacting the GNSS signals is largest at the edges of auroral forms. Here we studied two stable arcs, two dynamic auroral bands and a spiral. Specifically for arcs we find elevated phase scintillation indices at the pole-ward edge of the aurora. This is observed for auroral oxygen emissions (557.7 nm) at 150~km in the ionospheric E-region. This altitude is also used as the ionospheric piercing point for the GNSS signals as the observations remain the same regardless of different satellite elevations and azimuths. Further, there may be a time delay between the temporal evolution of aurora (f.e. commencement and fading of auroral activity) and observations of elevated phase scintillation indices. The time delay could be explained by the intense influx of particles, which increases the plasma density and causes recombination to carry on longer, which may lead to a persistence of structures - a 'memory effect'. High values of phase scintillation indices can be observed even shortly after strong visible aurora and can then remain significant at low intensities of the aurora.

show abstract

“…If the deviation was smaller than 0.8 the spectrum was best described by a single slope. |p 1 | + 0.8 ≤ |p 2 | was found to be a good condition to distinguish between a double and single slope fit and was used as a condition in previous works (Ivarsen et al, 2021). Figure 3 (a) shows the power spectrum of the low flyer at 08:37:16-08:37:18 UT, which corresponds to a time shortly after the rocket entered the cusp.…”

Section: Observationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of particle precipitation on plasma structuring at different altitudes by in-situ measurements

Buschmann¹,

Bonnell²,

Bounds³

et al. 2023

J. Space Weather Space Clim.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The plasma in the cusp ionosphere is subject to particle precipitation, which is important for the development of large scale irregularities in the plasma density. These irregularities can be broken down to smaller scales which have been linked to strong scintillations in the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signals. We present power spectra for the plasma density irregularities in the cusp ionosphere for regions with and without auroral particle precipitation based on in-situ measurements from the Twin Rockets to Investigate Cusp Electrodynamics-2 (TRICE-2) mission, consisting of two sounding rockets flying simultaneously at different altitudes. The electron density measurements taken from the multi-needle Langmuir probe system (m-NLP) were analyzed for the whole flight duration for both rockets. Due to their high sampling rates, the probes allow for a study of plasma irregularities down to kinetic scales. A steepening of the slope in the power spectra may indicate two regimes, a frequency interval with a shallow slope, where fluid-like processes are dominating, and an interval with a steeper slope which can be addressed with kinetic theory. The steepening occurs at frequencies between 20 and 100 Hz with a median similar to the oxygen gyrofrequency. Additionally, the occurrence of double slopes increases where precipitation starts and throughout the rest of the flight. In addition, strong electron density fluctuations were found in regions poleward of the cusp, thus in regions immediately after precipitation. Furthermore, by investigating the integrated power of the fluctuations within different frequency ranges, we show that at low frequencies (10-100 Hz), the power is pronounced more evenly while the rocket encounters particle precipitation, while at high frequencies (100-1000 Hz) fluctuations essentially coincide with the passing through a flow channel.

show abstract

Steepening Plasma Density Spectra in the Ionosphere: The Crucial Role Played by a Strong E‐Region

Cited by 13 publications

References 86 publications

Coordinated Observations of Rocket Exhaust Depletion: GOLD, Madrigal TEC, and Multiple Low‐Earth‐Orbit Satellites

Coordinated Observations of Rocket Exhaust Depletion: GOLD, Madrigal TEC, and Multiple Low‐Earth‐Orbit Satellites

Ionospheric plasma structuring in relation to auroral particle precipitation

The role of particle precipitation on plasma structuring at different altitudes by in-situ measurements

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About