Identification

Title

On the occurrence of postmidnight equatorial F region irregularities during the June solstice

Abstract

Postmidnight equatorial F region irregularities (EFIs) are known to develop mainly during the solstitial months. However, it is not well understood whether they occur at all longitudes and what process causes their occurrence at different longitude sectors. In this study, we use the GPS total electron content (TEC) fluctuations obtained from a global GPS network and spread F in ionograms from Jicamarca (283°E, 12°S, Dip 1°N) in the American longitude sector and Kwajalein (167°E, 9°N, Dip 4°N), Bac Lieu (106°E, 9°N, Dip 2°N), and Chumphon (99°E, 11°N, Dip 3°N) in the Pacific and Asian longitude sectors during 2000 - 2009, to investigate the EFI characteristics during June solstice. Results from global TEC fluctuations show that at solar maximum, the occurrence rate of postmidnight EFIs is high in African and Pacific regions, moderate in the Southeast Asian region, and low in the Peruvian region and that most postmidnight EFIs are the continuation of postsunset EFIs. During solar minimum the postmidnight EFIs were rarely observed in TEC but were very frequent in ionograms. The latter had more frequent postmidnight onsets over Peru, whereas they were initiated during late postsunset hours in Pacific and Southeast Asian longitudes. In both longitudes the postsunset layer rise occurred with some delay. The layer rise was more prominent on spread F nights over Jicamarca and less so over Pacific longitudes. The results showing different degrees of association at the different longitudes between the postsunset/postmidnight EFIs and F layer heights highlight the influence of other factors in the late-night EFI development. Perturbation seeds and plasma drifts/neutral winds, in particular, are discussed as strong candidates for causing these irregularities in the June solstitial months of solar minimum years.

Resource type

document

Resource locator

Unique resource identifier

code

https://n2t.org/ark:/85065/d71z4514

codeSpace

Dataset language

eng

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geoscientificInformation

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title

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reference date

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publication

effective date

2016-01-01T00:00:00Z

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publication

effective date

2011-04-22T00:00:00Z

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None

Responsible organisations

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contact position

OpenSky Support

organisation name

UCAR/NCAR - Library

full postal address

PO Box 3000

Boulder

80307-3000

email address

opensky@ucar.edu

web address

http://opensky.ucar.edu/

name: homepage

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pointOfContact

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