Equatorial spread-F by electric fields and atmospheric gravity waves generated by thunderstorms

Study on Seasonal Variations of Plasma Bubble Occurrence over Hong Kong Area Using GNSS Observations

In this study, the characteristics and causes of the seasonal variations in plasma bubble occurrence over the Hong Kong area were investigated using the local Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) network. Generally, the occurrences of plasma bubbles were larger in the two equinoxes than in the two solstices. Furthermore, two seasonal asymmetries in plasma bubble occurrence were observed: plasma bubble activity was more frequent in the spring equinox than in the autumn equinox (equinoctial asymmetry), and more frequent in the summer solstice than in the winter solstice (solstitial asymmetry). The equinoctial asymmetry could be explained using the Rayleigh–Taylor (R–T) instability mechanism, due to larger R–T growth rates in the spring equinox than in the autumn equinox. However, the R–T growth rate was smaller in the summer solstice than in the winter solstice, suggesting the R–T instability mechanism was inapplicable to the solstitial asymmetry. Our results showed there were more zonally propagating atmospheric gravity waves (GWs) induced by thunderstorm events over the Hong Kong area in the summer solstice than the winter solstice. So, the solstitial asymmetry could be attributed to the seeding mechanism of thunderstorm-driven atmospheric GWs.

Investigation of the Occurrence of Nighttime Topside Ionospheric Irregularities in Low-Latitude and Equatorial Regions Using CYGNSS Satellites

By using multi-satellite observations of the L1 signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) from the Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System (CYGNSS) taken in 2017, we present the occurrence of nighttime topside ionospheric irregularities in low-latitude and equatorial regions. The most significant finding of this study is the existence of longitudinal structures with a wavenumber 4 pattern in the topside irregularities. This suggests that lower atmospheric waves, especially a daytime diurnal eastward-propagating zonal wave number-3 nonmigrating tide (DE3), might play an important role in the generation of topside plasma bubbles during the low solar minimum. Observations of scintillation events indicate that the maximum occurrence of nighttime topside ionospheric irregularities occurs on the magnetic equator during the equinoxes. The current work, which could be regarded as an important update of the previous investigations, would be readily for the further global analysis of the topside ionospheric irregularities.