Satellite Traces: Ionogram Signatures of Bottom-Side Upwelling Structures - A Simulation Study

Abstract

Satellite Traces (STs) are the important ionogram signatures for the presence of upwellings in the bottom-side ionosphere, which provide the necessary seed perturbation for the development of equatorial plasma bubbles (EPBs). In this study, a virtual ionosonde experiment is simulated to investigate the various ST signatures under the presence of shallow, deep, overhead, and off-centered upwellings in the bottom-side ionosphere. It is shown that STs occur at higher and lower virtual heights than the main ionogram trace for the off-centered and overhead upwellings, respectively. The height separation between the main trace and STs increases with the deepening of overhead upwellings. Further, a proof-of-concept is demonstrated that multiple STs from ionograms can be used to reconstruct the spatial structure of bottom-side upwellings, if the precise Angle-of-Arrival information can be resolved from the wide beam Ionosonde systems, and can have potential applications in predicting the occurrence of EPBs.