Occurrence Characteristics of Nighttime Merged EIA Based on NASA GOLD Observations from 2018 to 2023

The ionosphere equatorial ionization anomaly (EIA) is usually characterized by two plasma density maxima in the Earth’s equatorial region. Merged EIA (MEIA) is a unique phenomenon in the evolution of the EIA. Currently, the occurrence characteristics of MEIA are still not well understood. In this st...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inRemote sensing (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 16; no. 9; p. 1575
Main Authors Wu, Kun, Qian, Liying
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Basel MDPI AG 01.05.2024
Subjects
airglow emission
Atmosphere, Upper
Electric fields
Equatorial ionization anomaly
Equatorial regions
General circulation models
Geomagnetic activity
Global positioning systems
Gold
GOLD observation
GPS
Ionization
Ionosphere
Night
Night-time
Nighttime
nighttime merged EIA
occurrence characteristics of merged EIA
Plasma density
Solar activity
Solar cycle
Statistical analysis
Time series
Northern Hemisphere
Southern Hemisphere
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Summary:The ionosphere equatorial ionization anomaly (EIA) is usually characterized by two plasma density maxima in the Earth’s equatorial region. Merged EIA (MEIA) is a unique phenomenon in the evolution of the EIA. Currently, the occurrence characteristics of MEIA are still not well understood. In this study, we investigate the occurrence characteristics of nighttime MEIA using NASA Global-scale Observations of the Limb and Disk (GOLD) observations between October 2018 and the end of 2023. We found that the occurrence of nighttime MEIA exhibits solar cycle, seasonal, and local time variations. The occurrence rate of the MEIA is inversely dependent on solar activity. Occurrence of the MEIA maximizes near the equinoxes, with a primary (secondary) low occurrence rate near the June (December) solstice. In addition, occurrences of the MEIA are suppressed during the pre-reversal enhancement (PRE), resulting in relatively fewer events. Furthermore, it was found that the occurrence of the MEIA is not significantly dependent on the strength of geomagnetic activity. As far as we know, this study represents the first instance of utilizing observations from GOLD observations to investigate the characteristics of MEIA occurrences and their correlations with solar activity, season, and local time.
ISSN:2072-4292
2072-4292
DOI:10.3390/rs16091575