Premium
Daytime Evolution of Equatorial Plasma Bubbles Observed by the First Republic of China Satellite
Author(s) -
Kil Hyosub,
Paxton Larry J.,
Lee Woo Kyoung,
Jee Geonhwa
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2019gl082903
Subject(s) - daytime , morning , equator , sunrise , ionosphere , atmospheric sciences , satellite , local time , latitude , geology , climatology , magnetic dip , defense meteorological satellite program , geodesy , geophysics , physics , astronomy , statistics , mathematics
Plasma bubbles in the equatorial F region are thought of as nighttime phenomena because they develop at night and are assumed to vanish after sunrise. However, bubbles occasionally persist throughout the night and into the day. This study investigates the origin of daytime irregularities and their evolution using data from the first Republic of China satellite. Our results show that daytime irregularities occur in the longitudes where bubbles have developed on previous nights. A newly reported feature is the observation of the temporal variation of the locations of daytime irregularities; daytime irregularities are concentrated near the magnetic equator early in the morning, but the location gradually shifts to higher latitudes with time. This phenomenon is explained in terms of the latitudinal redistribution of fossil bubbles by the ionospheric fountain effect.