Open AccessExtreme Low‐Latitude Total Electron Content Enhancement and Global Positioning System Scintillation at Dawn
Author(s) -
Mrak Sebastijan,
Semeter Joshua,
Nishimura Yukitoshi,
Coster Anthea J.
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
space weather
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.254
H-Index - 56
ISSN - 1542-7390
DOI - 10.1029/2021sw002740
Subject(s) - total electron content , tec , sunrise , latitude , ionosphere , scintillation , atmospheric sciences , interplanetary scintillation , sunset , anomaly (physics) , global positioning system , geology , environmental science , physics , geodesy , geophysics , solar wind , plasma , astronomy , coronal mass ejection , nuclear physics , telecommunications , detector , computer science , optics , condensed matter physics
We report on an extreme ionospheric plasma density enhancement and Global Positioning System (GPS) scintillation at dawn, observed within the expanding equatorial ionization anomaly (EIA). The total electron content (TEC) in central America reached 50 TECu at sunrise, the value almost twice as high as the normal afternoon peak. The enhanced EIA expanded poleward and westward from just below 20° magnetic latitude (MLAT) to beyond 30° MLAT at sunrise. The chief ramification of the enhanced EIA was strong GPS scintillation which was observed poleward of 30° northern MLAT and lasted until 8:00 local time. In total, the amplitude scintillation and phase fluctuations lasted for ∼5 h at latitudes north of 20°MLAT in central America.