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Depletion and Traveling Ionospheric Disturbances Generated by Two Launches of China's Long March 4B Rocket
Author(s) -
Liu Haitao,
Ding Feng,
Yue Xinan,
Zhao Biqiang,
Song Qian,
Wan Weixing,
Ning Baiqi,
Zhang Keke
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
journal of geophysical research: space physics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2169-9402
pISSN - 2169-9380
DOI - 10.1029/2018ja026096
Subject(s) - tec , ionosphere , total electron content , satellite , china , rocket (weapon) , geodesy , geology , meteorology , amplitude , environmental science , atmospheric sciences , geography , geophysics , physics , aerospace engineering , engineering , archaeology , quantum mechanics
Using total electron content (TEC) data from 902 global navigation satellite system stations over China, we analyzed the ionospheric responses following two similar launches of the Long March 4B from Taiyuan, China, that is, China‐Brazil Earth Resources Satellite 3 launched on 9 December 2013 and China‐Brazil Earth Resources Satellite 4 launched on 7 December 2014. By adopting a method that can detect TEC depletion effectively, filtered TEC series, and built two‐dimensional disturbances map, we found that the ionospheric disturbances of these two launches were almost the same. We identified three types of disturbances following both launches: depletions, shock wave‐related traveling ionospheric disturbances (TIDs), and acoustic wave‐related circle TIDs. The buildup time of depletion was influenced by the amount of exhaust expelled into the ionosphere with an amplitude of ∼12 TEC unit (TECU; 1 TECU = 10 16 el/m 2 ). After the electron depletion was formed, it drifted westward for approximately 300 km. The shock wave‐related TIDs can only be observed near the trajectory and reflect the acceleration of the rockets with an amplitude of ∼0.6 TECU. The acoustic wave‐related circle TIDs were observed at the southeast of the launch site. From our observations, this type of TID includes three groups of wave trains, and the speed and period are ∼900 m/s and ∼3.8 min, respectively. The amplitudes of the three groups of TIDs are ∼0.065, ∼0.045, and ∼0.02 TECU.