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Atmosphere
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Ionospheric Irregularity
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Ionospheric Irregularity

A special issue of Atmosphere (ISSN 2073-4433). This special issue belongs to the section "Upper Atmosphere".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 27 November 2024 | Viewed by 4749

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Qiong Tang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute of Space Science and Applied Technology, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, China
Interests: ionospheric physics; mesosphere and low thermosphere; radiowave propagation and application
Dr. Yi Liu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Space Physics, Wuhan University, Luojiasha, Wuhan, China
Interests: ionospheric irregularity; space weather; radiowave propagation and application

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Ionospheric irregularities are disturbances or variations in the ionospheric plasma that can impact the propagation of radio waves, satellite signals, and other forms of electromagnetic radiation. Ground-based and satellite instruments have observed ionospheric irregularities with spatial scales ranging from meters to thousands of kilometers, including sporadic E (Es) and spread F (SF) in ionograms, field-aligned irregularities (FAIs), and plasma bubbles in radar maps, traveling ionospheric disturbances (TIDs) in optical images, and total electron content (TEC) perturbation maps.

The formation of irregularities is generally attributed to ionospheric instability mechanisms, including: wind shear theory for Es, two-stream instability (TSI), and gradient-drift instability (GDI) for E region FAIs at the equator and low latitudes, atmospheric gravity waves, GDI, Kelvin-Helmholtz instability (KHI), and Es-layer instability for E region FAIs at mid-latitudes, Rayleigh–Taylor (R-T) instability for plasma bubbles and equatorial SF, and the breaking of atmospheric gravity waves and Perkins instability for SF and medium-scale TIDs (MSTIDs) at mid-latitudes. In all the above instability mechanisms, electric fields and neutral winds play dominant roles in the generation of ionospheric irregularities.

One common type of ionospheric irregularity is called ionospheric scintillation, which is characterized by small-scale variations in the ionospheric plasma that cause fluctuations in the amplitude, phase, and polarization of radio signals passing through the ionosphere. Scintillations can cause signal fading, loss of signal lock, and other forms of signal degradation. Therefore, ionospheric irregularities are an important consideration for communication and navigation systems.

Authors are encouraged to submit original papers that include but are not limited to topics of observations, modeling, instrumentation, etc. Review papers and technical notes are also welcome.

Dr. Qiong Tang
Dr. Yi Liu
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • Ionospheric irregularities
  • Communication and navigation systems
  • Ionospheric scintillation
  • Ionospheric plasma.

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

18 pages, 6083 KiB  
Article
First Detections of Ionospheric Plasma Density Irregularities from GOES Geostationary GPS Observations during Geomagnetic Storms
by Iurii Cherniak, Irina Zakharenkova, Scott Gleason and Douglas Hunt
Atmosphere 2024, 15(9), 1065; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos15091065 - 3 Sep 2024
Viewed by 360
Abstract
In this study, we present the first results of detecting ionospheric irregularities using non-typical GPS observations recorded onboard the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES) mission operating at ~35,800 km altitude. Sitting above the GPS constellation, GOES can track GPS signals only from GPS [...] Read more.
In this study, we present the first results of detecting ionospheric irregularities using non-typical GPS observations recorded onboard the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES) mission operating at ~35,800 km altitude. Sitting above the GPS constellation, GOES can track GPS signals only from GPS transmitters on the opposite side of the Earth in a rather unique geometry. Although GPS receivers onboard GOES are primarily designed for navigation and were not configured for ionospheric soundings, these GPS measurements along links that traverse the Earth’s ionosphere can be used to retrieve information about ionospheric electron density. Using the radio occultation (RO) technique applied to GPS measurements from the GOES–16, we analyzed variations in the ionospheric total electron content (TEC) on the links between the GPS transmitter and geostationary GOES GPS receiver. For case-studies of major geomagnetic storms that occurred in September 2017 and August 2018, we detected and analyzed the signatures of storm-induced ionospheric irregularities in novel and promising geostationary GOES GPS observations. We demonstrated that the presence of ionospheric irregularities near the GOES GPS RO sounding field of view during geomagnetic disturbances was confirmed by ground-based GNSS observations. The use of RO observations from geostationary orbit provides new opportunities for monitoring ionospheric irregularities and ionospheric density. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ionospheric Irregularity)
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12 pages, 4412 KiB  
Article
Estimation and Compensation of the Ionospheric Path Delay Phase in PALSAR-3 and NISAR-L Interferograms
by Urs Wegmüller, Charles Werner, Othmar Frey and Christophe Magnard
Atmosphere 2024, 15(6), 632; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos15060632 - 24 May 2024
Viewed by 839
Abstract
Spatial and temporal variation in the free electron concentration in the ionosphere affects SAR interferograms, in particular at low radar frequencies. In this work, the identification, estimation, and compensation of ionospheric path delay phases in PALSAR-3 and NISAR-L interferograms are discussed. Both of [...] Read more.
Spatial and temporal variation in the free electron concentration in the ionosphere affects SAR interferograms, in particular at low radar frequencies. In this work, the identification, estimation, and compensation of ionospheric path delay phases in PALSAR-3 and NISAR-L interferograms are discussed. Both of these L-band sensors simultaneously acquire SAR data in a main spectral band and in an additional, spectrally separated, narrower second band to support the mitigation of ionospheric path delays. The methods presented permit separating the dispersive and the non-dispersive phase terms based on the double-difference interferogram between the two available spectral bands and the differential interferogram of the main band. The applicability of the proposed methods is demonstrated using PALSAR-3-like data that were simulated based on PALSAR-2 SM1 mode data. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ionospheric Irregularity)
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17 pages, 6456 KiB  
Article
Correlation of Rate of TEC Index and Spread F over European Ionosondes
by Krishnendu Sekhar Paul, Mehdi Hasan Rafi, Haris Haralambous and Mohammad Golam Mostafa
Atmosphere 2024, 15(3), 331; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos15030331 - 7 Mar 2024
Viewed by 1680
Abstract
One of the most popular indices for monitoring the occurrence and intensity of ionospheric L-band irregularities is the Rate of TEC Index (ROTI). Due to low TEC in the mid-latitude ionosphere, ROTI has received significantly less attention than the equatorial and polar ionosphere. [...] Read more.
One of the most popular indices for monitoring the occurrence and intensity of ionospheric L-band irregularities is the Rate of TEC Index (ROTI). Due to low TEC in the mid-latitude ionosphere, ROTI has received significantly less attention than the equatorial and polar ionosphere. On the other hand, spread F is an established ionogram irregularity signature. The present study aims to correlate ROTI and spread F activity over European Digisonde stations for a low-to-moderate solar activity year (2011). With a focus on the latitude-dependent occurrence, the analysis demonstrates that range spread F (RSF) has been identified for all notable ROTI (>0.15 TECU/min) cases which also coincide with MSTID activity over the stations, suggesting induced gravity waves or polarization electric fields as the driving mechanism for enhanced ROTI activity. The diurnal and seasonal features are also presented. Maximum irregularity occurrence was observed around the 45° N from 18:00 to 05:00 UT with the seasonal maximum occurrence in January. Over lower mid-latitude Digisonde stations (latitude < 45° N), the diurnal and seasonal occurrence was observed from 19:00 to 04:30 UT in July. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ionospheric Irregularity)
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13 pages, 1950 KiB  
Article
Multi-Time-Scale Analysis of Chaos and Predictability in vTEC
by Massimo Materassi, Yenca Migoya-Orué, Sandro Maria Radicella, Tommaso Alberti and Giuseppe Consolini
Atmosphere 2024, 15(1), 84; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos15010084 - 9 Jan 2024
Viewed by 1139
Abstract
Theoretical modelling of the local ionospheric medium (LIM) is made difficult by the occurrence of irregular ionospheric behaviours at many space and time scales, making prior hypotheses uncertain. Investigating the LIM from scratch with the tools of dynamical system theory may be an [...] Read more.
Theoretical modelling of the local ionospheric medium (LIM) is made difficult by the occurrence of irregular ionospheric behaviours at many space and time scales, making prior hypotheses uncertain. Investigating the LIM from scratch with the tools of dynamical system theory may be an option, using the vertical total electron content (vTEC) as an appropriate tracer of the system variability. An embedding procedure is applied to vTEC time series to obtain the finite dimension (m∈N) of the phase space of an LIM-equivalent dynamical system, as well as its correlation dimension (D2) and Kolmogorov entropy rate (K2). In this paper, the dynamical features (m,D2,K2) are studied for the vTEC on the top of three GNSS stations depending on the time scale (τ) at which the vTEC is observed. First, the vTEC undergoes empirical mode decomposition; then (m,D2,K2) are calculated as functions of τ. This captures the multi-scale structure of the Earth’s ionospheric dynamics, demonstrating a net distinction between the behaviour at τ≤24h and τ≥24h. In particular, sub-diurnal-scale modes are assimilated to much more chaotic systems than over-diurnal-scale modes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ionospheric Irregularity)
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