Advances in Near-Earth Space and Atmospheric Physics from Ground-Based and Satellite Observations

Dear Colleagues,

Within the near-Earth space and the atmosphere, all regions are closely interconnected, forming a multi-coupled complex system. Space weather events originating from the Sun, such as solar flares, energetic particle precipitations and effects of solar wind disturbances including Interplanetary Coronal Mass Ejections (ICMEs) or Corotating Interaction Regions (CIRs), can cause significant changes in the Earth's environment. These variations manifest in different spheres/regions of the system (such as geomagnetic storms and ionospheric storms) that are summarized as geospheric storms. Furthermore, the lowest part of the terrestrial plasma—the ionosphere—is strongly coupled with the neutral atmosphere. Therefore, the ionosphere is also affected from below by the different types of atmospheric waves associated with phenomena of non-space origin and irregular character (e.g., severe tropospheric convection, thunderstorms, and tectonic activity).

The variability of the plasma environment range across broad spatial scales, from local or regional to inter-hemispherical or global changes. Their temporal variability is also diversified, from the 11-year solar cycle variations to rapid changes, which are still difficult to predict as well as measure in situ. The resulting intense variations in the terrestrial plasma affect communication and navigation systems, spacecraft operations, manned space missions, as well as commercial aircraft operations. Thus, monitoring the processes within the system via ground-based and satellite observations is rather crucial.

This Special Issue aims to collate research papers that contribute toward improving our understanding of the physical processes within the Earth’s plasma environment coupled with the atmosphere, utilizing the advantages of the ground-based and satellite observations.

Dr. Veronika Barta
Dr. Christina Arras
Dr. Jaroslav Urbar
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Remote Sensing is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• ground-based and satellite observations
• GNSS/Lidar/SAR/Microwave radiometer
• solar–terrestrial coupling processes
• troposphere–ionosphere coupling
• geospheric storms
• ionospheric physics
• space weather
• model comparison with observations

Title: Impacts of Sudden Stratospheric Warming on Equatorial Plasma Bubbles: Quasi-6-day Oscillations
Authors: Ercha Aa; Nicholas M. Pedatella; Guiping Liu
Affiliation: Haystack Observatory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Westford, MA, USA.
Abstract: This study investigates the day-to-day variability of equatorial plasma bubbles (EPBs) in the American/Atlantic sector and their connections to atmospheric planetary waves during the sudden stratospheric warming (SSW) event of 2021. The investigation is based on the Global Observations of the Limb and Disk (GOLD) observations, the Ionospheric Connection Explorer (ICON) neutral wind data, ionosonde measurements, and the Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model with thermosphere-ionosphere eXtension (WACCM-X) simulations. GOLD observations and ionosonde data shows that significant quasi-6-day oscillation (Q6DO) was observed in both the intensity of EPBs and the localized growth rate of Rayleigh-Taylor (R-T) instability during the 2021 SSW event. The analysis of WACCM-X simulations and ICON neutral winds reveal that the Q6DO pattern coincided with an amplification of the quasi-6-day wave (Q6DW) in WACCM-X simulations and noticeable ∼6-day periodicity in ICON zonal winds. The combination of these multi-instrument observations and numerical simulations demonstrate that certain planetary waves like the Q6DW can have a significant influence on the day-to-day variability of EPBs, especially during the SSW period, through modulating the strength of prereversal enhancement and the R-T instability growth rate via the wind-driven dynamo. These results provide new insights into the connection between atmospheric planetary waves and ionospheric EPBs.