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Ionospheric hole made by the 2012 North Korean rocket observed with a dense GNSS array in Japan
Author(s) -
Nakashima Yuki,
Heki Kosuke
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
radio science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.371
H-Index - 84
eISSN - 1944-799X
pISSN - 0048-6604
DOI - 10.1002/2014rs005413
Subject(s) - gnss applications , ionosphere , rocket (weapon) , geodesy , geology , geophysics , meteorology , remote sensing , physics , astronomy , aerospace engineering , satellite , engineering
A dense array of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receivers is useful to study ionospheric disturbances. Here we report observations by a Japanese GNSS array of an ionospheric hole, i.e., localized electron depletion, made by water vapor molecules in the exhaust plume of the second‐stage engine of the Unha‐3 rocket launched from North Korea, on 12 December 2012. The Russian GNSS was used for the first time to observe such an ionospheric hole. The hole emerged ~6 min after the launch above the middle of the Yellow Sea, and its size and depth suggest that the Unha‐3 is slightly less powerful than the 2009 Taepodong‐2 missile, also from North Korea. Smaller‐scale electron depletion signatures appeared ~10 min after the launch above the southern East China Sea, which is possibly caused by the exhaust plume of the third‐stage engine.