Identification

Title

Observation of the neutral-ion coupling through 6-day planetary wave

Abstract

A westward 6 day oscillation with zonal wave number 1 is identified in the global maps of the ionospheric total electron content (TEC) during May 2003. This signature coincides with the wave activities in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere (MLT) region with a similar zonal structure and period, deduced from the temperature and wind observations from the Thermosphere Ionosphere and Mesosphere Electric Dynamics (TIMED) satellite. The vertical wavelength of this 6 day wave is estimated to be ~65 km, which enables it to propagate up into the lower thermosphere and therefore modulate the ionosphere through E region wind dynamo. The zonal wind perturbations of the 6 day wave maximize in the equatorial region with an amplitude of ~30 m/s and the meridional wind perturbations peak at middle latitudes with an amplitude of 15–20 m/s. The 6 day oscillation in TEC peaks at the geomagnetic equatorial ionization anomaly (EIA) crests in both hemispheres with a deep minimum at the equator. The absolute TEC perturbations maximize at ~1400-1800 LT with an amplitude of ~9 (~7) total electron content unit (TECU; 1 TECU = ¹01⁶ m⁻²) in the southern (northern) hemisphere, which account for ~16% (~10%) of the background TEC. Larger relative TEC perturbations of ~20% are found at 0200-0400 LT. The similar wave number-period spectra and the consistent temporal variations of the 6 day periodical signatures in both neutral atmosphere and ionosphere suggest a strong neutral-ion coupling through planetary wave.

Resource type

document

Resource locator

Unique resource identifier

code

http://n2t.net/ark:/85065/d708669p

codeSpace

Dataset language

eng

Spatial reference system

code identifying the spatial reference system

Classification of spatial data and services

Topic category

geoscientificInformation

Keywords

Keyword set

keyword value

Text

originating controlled vocabulary

title

Resource Type

reference date

date type

publication

effective date

2016-01-01T00:00:00Z

Geographic location

West bounding longitude

East bounding longitude

North bounding latitude

South bounding latitude

Temporal reference

Temporal extent

Begin position

End position

Dataset reference date

date type

publication

effective date

2014-12-01T00:00:00Z

Frequency of update

Quality and validity

Lineage

Conformity

Data format

name of format

version of format

Constraints related to access and use

Constraint set

Use constraints

Limitations on public access

None

Responsible organisations

Responsible party

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

responsible party role

pointOfContact

Metadata on metadata

Metadata point of contact