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Correlative study of plasma bubbles, evening equatorial ionization anomaly, and equatorial prereversal E × B drifts at solar maximum
Author(s) -
Li Guozhu,
Ning Baiqi,
Liu Libo,
Zhao Biqiang,
Yue Xinan,
Su S.Y.,
Venkatraman Sarita
Publication year - 2008
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 - 10.1029/2007rs003760
Subject(s) - evening , ionosphere , noon , atmospheric sciences , equinox , daytime , anomaly (physics) , f region , sunset , latitude , environmental science , climatology , geology , physics , geodesy , geophysics , astronomy , condensed matter physics
Previous ground observations have revealed a correlation that exists between equatorial plasma bubbles, evening equatorial ionization anomaly (EIA), and prereversal E × B drift velocity using latitudinal arrays of ionospheric sounders, such as in the Indian and American regions. Besides the ground measurements, the space‐based observations also provide a convenient way to study the global‐scale variations. On the basis of in situ data collected from DMSP, ROCSAT‐1, and CHAMP satellites, we investigated the correlation of seasonal/longitudinal variations of plasma bubble (PB) occurrence, evening EIA, and prereversal E × B drifts on magnetically quiet days during the solar maximum years (2000–2002). In general, the observational results provide consistent evidences that the large‐scale variations in seasonal/longitudinal distribution of evening EIA and PB occurrence rates are well‐correlated with the observed evening prereversal E × B drifts and that some of the small‐scale longitudinal variations (such as wave number‐4 structure during equinox) of evening EIA exist before the occurrence of the prereversal enhancement and coincide with the daytime equatorial electrojet. In such cases, the small‐scale longitudinal variation of PB occurrence rates may result from the evening EIA small‐scale longitudinal structures. The evening prereversal E × B drifts, together with the longitudinal variations of evening EIA, are assumed to play a role in determining the longitudinal variations of equatorial and low‐latitude PB occurrence rates.