Review of ionospheric irregularities and ionospheric electrodynamic coupling in the middle latitude region

被引:33
作者
Liu, Yi [1 ]
Zhou, Chen [1 ]
Xu, Tong [2 ]
Tang, Qiong [1 ]
Deng, ZhongXin [2 ]
Chen, GuanYi [1 ]
Wang, ZhuangKai [1 ]
机构
[1] Wuhan Univ, Sch Elect Informat, Dept Space Phys, Wuhan 430072, Peoples R China
[2] China Res Inst Radiowave Propagat, Natl Key Lab Electromagnet Environm, Qingdao 266107, Peoples R China
基金
国家重点研发计划; 中国国家自然科学基金;
关键词
ionospheric irregularity; plasma instability; neutral wind; polarized electric field; ionospheric electrodynamic coupling; FIELD-ALIGNED IRREGULARITIES; SPORADIC-E LAYER; RADIO OCCULTATION MEASUREMENTS; POLARIZATION ELECTRIC-FIELDS; SPREAD-F OCCURRENCE; MIDLATITUDE IONOSPHERE; COHERENT BACKSCATTER; SCALE IRREGULARITIES; ELECTROSTATIC FIELDS; GEOMAGNETIC-ACTIVITY;
D O I
10.26464/epp2021025
中图分类号
P3 [地球物理学]; P59 [地球化学];
学科分类号
0708 ; 070902 ;
摘要
This paper briefly reviews ionospheric irregularities that occur in the E and F regions at mid-latitudes. Sporadic E (ES) is a common ionospheric irregularity phenomenon that is first noticed in the E layer. ES mainly appears during daytime in summer hemispheres, and is formed primarily from neutral wind shear in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere (MLT) region. Field-aligned irregularity (FAI) in the E region is also observed by Very High Frequency (VHF) radar in mid-latitude regions. FAI frequently occurs after sunset in summer hemispheres, and spectrum features of E region FAI echoes suggest that type-2 irregularity is dominant in the nighttime ionosphere. A close relationship between ES and E region FAI implies that ES may be a possible source of E region FAI in the nighttime ionosphere. Strong neutral wind shear, steep ES plasma density gradient, and a polarized electric field are the significant factors affecting the formation of E region FAI. At mid-latitudes, joint observational experiments including ionosonde, VHF radar, Global Positioning System (GPS) stations, and all-sky optical images have revealed strong connections across different scales of ionospheric irregularities in the nighttime F region, such as spread F (SF), medium-scale traveling ionospheric disturbances (MSTID), and F region FAI. Observations suggest that different scales of ionospheric irregularities are generally attributed to the Perkins instability and subsequently excited gradient drift instability. Nighttime MSTID can further evolve into small-scale structures through a nonlinear cascade process when a steep plasma density gradient exists at the bottom of the F region. In addition, the effect of ionospheric electrodynamic coupling processes, including ionospheric E-F coupling and inter-hemispheric coupling on the generation of ionospheric irregularities, becomes more prominent due to the significant dip angle and equipotentiality of magnetic field lines in the mid-latitude ionosphere. Polarized electric fields can map to different ionospheric regions and excite plasma instabilities which form ionospheric irregularities. Nevertheless, the mapping efficiency of a polarized electric field depends on the ionospheric background and spatial scale of the field.
引用
收藏
页码:462 / 482
页数:21
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