Earth and Planetary Physics最新文献

Concentric gravity waves (CGWs) in the middle and upper atmosphere show wave-coupling processes between the lower atmosphere and the middle and upper atmosphere. In this research, we analyzed a case of CGWs detected simultaneously by the AIRS (Atmospheric Infrared Sounder) and the VIIRS/DNB (Day/Night Band of the Visible Infrared Imager Radiometer Suite) in the stratosphere and mesosphere. Results showed that gravity waves (GWs) were generated by the collocated Hurricane Bejisa on the island of Mauritius. The AIRS data showed arc-like phase fronts of GWs with horizontal wavelengths of 190 and 150 km at 21:08 coordinated universal time (UTC) on 1 January 2014 and at 10:00 UTC on 2 January 2014, whereas the DNB observed arced GWs with horizontal wavelengths of 60 and 150 km in the same geographic regions at 22:24 UTC. The characteristics of CGW parameters in the stratosphere (~40 km) and the mesosphere (~87 km), such as the vertical wavelength, intrinsic frequency, and intrinsic horizontal phase speed, were first derived together with the background winds from ERA5 reanalysis data and Horizontal Wind Model data through the dispersion relationship of GWs and the wind-filtering theory.

Kinetic-scale magnetic holes (KSMHs) are structures characterized by a significant magnetic depression with a length scale on the order of the proton gyroradius. These structures have been investigated in recent studies in near-Earth space, and found to be closely related to energy conversion and particle acceleration, wave-particle interactions, magnetic reconnection, and turbulence at the kinetic-scale. However, there are still several major issues of the KSMHs that need further study — including (a) the source of these structures (locally generated in near-Earth space, or carried by the solar wind), (b) the environmental conditions leading to their generation, and (c) their spatio-temporal characteristics. In this study, KSMHs in near-Earth space are investigated statistically using data from the Magnetospheric Multiscale mission. Approximately 200,000 events were observed from September 2015 to March 2020. Occurrence rates of such structures in the solar wind, magnetosheath, and magnetotail were obtained. We find that KSMHs occur in the magnetosheath at rates far above their occurrence in the solar wind. This indicates that most of the structures are generated locally in the magnetosheath, rather than advected with the solar wind. Moreover, KSMHs occur in the downstream region of the quasi-parallel shock at rates significantly higher than in the downstream region of the quasi-perpendicular shock, indicating a relationship with the turbulent plasma environment. Close to the magnetopause, we find that the depths of KSMHs decrease as their temporal-scale increases. We also find that the spatial-scales of the KSMHs near the subsolar magnetosheath are smaller than those in the flanks. Furthermore, their global distribution shows a significant dawn-dusk asymmetry (duskside dominating) in the magnetotail.

Polar Mesosphere Summer Echoes (PMSEs) are very strong radar echoes observed at altitudes near the polar summer mesopause. One of the essential properties of these radar echoes is that they can give useful diagnostic information about the physics of the scattering process. In this paper, the related characteristics of PMSEs measured with the European Incoherent SCATter Very High Frequency (EISCAT VHF) 224 MHz radar on 13–15 July 2010 are studied at different elevation angles from 78° to 90°. It is found that the PMSEs peak power and strongest PMSEs average power occur at the same elevation angles. Also interesting is that the strongest PMSEs occur at off-vertical angles when a PMSEs has a layered (multilayer) structure. And reflection may have more significant effects on PMSEs when there are double or multilayer PMSEs. Possible explanations regarding these observations are discussed.

The present work uses the Thermosphere Ionosphere Electrodynamics General Circulation Model (TIEGCM), under geomagnetically disturbed conditions that are closely related to the southward interplanetary magnetic field (IMF), to investigate how the nighttime poleward wind (30°–50° magnetic latitude and 19–22 magnetic local time) responds to subauroral polarization streams (SAPS) that commence at different universal times (UTs). The SAPS effects on the poleward winds show a remarkable UT variation, with weaker magnitudes at 00 and 12 UT than at 06 and 18 UT. The strongest poleward wind emerges when SAPS commence at 06 UT, and the weakest poleward wind develops when SAPS occur at 00 UT. A diagnostic analysis of model results shows that the pressure gradient is more prominent for the developing of the poleward wind at 00 and 12 UT. Meanwhile, the effect of ion drag is important in the modulation of the poleward wind velocity at 06 and 18 UT. This is caused by the misalignment of the geomagnetic and geographic coordinate systems, resulting in a large component of ion drag in the geographically northward (southward) direction due to channel orientation of the SAPS at 06 and 18 UT (00 and 12 UT). The Coriolis force effect induced by westward winds maximizes (minimizes) when SAPS commence at 12 UT (00 UT). The centrifugal force due to the accelerated westward winds shows similar UT variations as the Coriolis force, but with an opposite effect.

We report a simultaneous observation of two band electromagnetic ion cyclotron (EMIC) waves and toroidal Alfvén waves by the Van Allen Probe mission. Through wave frequency analyses, the mass density ρ is found to be locally peaked at the magnetic equator. Perpendicular fluxes of ions (< 100 eV) increase simultaneously with the appearances of EMIC waves, indicating a heating of these ions by EMIC waves. In addition, the measured ion distributions also support the equatorial peak formation, which accords with the result of the frequency analyses. The formation of local mass density peaks at the equator should be due to enhancements of equatorial ion concentrations, which are triggered by EMIC waves’ perpendicular heating on low energy ions.

In this paper, we study how coseismic deformations calculated in 1066 Earth models are affected by how the models treat Earth discontinuities. From the results of applying models 1066A (continuous) and 1066B (discontinuous), we find that the difference in Love numbers of strike-slip and horizontal tensile sources are bigger than dip-slip and vertical tensile sources. Taken collectively, discontinuities have major effects on Green’s functions of four independent sources. For the near-field coseismic deformations of the 2013 Okhotsk earthquake (M_w 8.3), the overall differences between theoretical calculations in vertical displacement, geoid, and gravity changes caused by discontinuities are 10.52 percent, 9.07 percent and 6.19 percent, with RMS errors of 0.624 mm, 0.029 mm, and 0.063 μGal, respectively. The difference in far-field displacements is small, compared with GPS data, and we can neglect this effect. For the shallow earthquake, 2011 Tohoku-Oki earthquake (M_w 9.0), the differences in near-field displacements are 0.030 m (N-S), 0.093 m (E-W), and 0.025 m (up-down) in our study area with the ARIA slip model, which gives results closer to GPS data than those from the USGS model. The difference in vertical displacements and gravity changes on the Earth’s surface caused by discontinuities are larger than 10 percent. The difference in the theoretical gravity changes at spatially fixed points truncated to degrees 60, as required by GRACE data, is 0.0016 μGal and the discrepancy is 11 percent, with the theoretical spatial gravity changes from 1066B closer to observations than from 1066A. The results show that an Earth model with discontinuities in the medium has a large effect on the calculated coseismic deformations.

In the past decades, the Incoherent Scatter Radar (ISR) has been demonstrated to be one of the most powerful instruments for ionosphere monitoring. The Institute of Geology and Geophysics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences was founded to build a state-of-the-art phased-array ISR at Sanya (18.3°N, 109.6°E), a low-latitude station on Hainan Island, named the Sanya ISR (SYISR). As a first step, a prototype radar system consisting of eight subarrays (SYISR-8) was built to reduce the technical risk of producing the entire large array. In this work, we have summarized the preliminary experimental results based on the SYISR-8. The amplitude and phase among 256 channels were first calibrated through an embedded internal monitoring network. The mean oscillation of the amplitude and phase after calibration were about 1 dB and 5°, respectively, which met the basic requirements. The beam directivity was confirmed by crossing screen of the International Space Station. The SYISR-8 was further used to detect the tropospheric wind profile and meteors. The derived winds were evaluated by comparison with independent radiosonde and balloon-based GPS measurements. The SYISR-8 was able to observe several typical meteor echoes, such as the meteor head echo, range-spread trail echo, and specular trail echo. These results confirmed the validity and reliability of the SYISR-8 system, thereby reducing the technical risk of producing the entire large array of the SYISR to some extent.

Earth's aurora is a luminescent phenomenon generated by the interaction between magnetospheric precipitating particles and the upper atmosphere; it plays an important role in magnetosphere–ionosphere (M-I) coupling. The transpolar arc (TPA) is a discrete auroral arc distributed in the noon-midnight direction poleward of the auroral oval and connects the dayside to the nightside sectors of the auroral oval. Studying the seasonal variation of TPA events can help us better understand the long-term variation of the interaction between the solar wind, the magnetosphere, and M-I coupling. However, a statistical study of the seasonal variation of TPA incidence has not previously been carried out. In this paper, we have identified 532 TPA events from the IMAGE database (2000–2005) and the Polar database (1996–2002), and calculated the incidence of TPA events for different months. We find a semiannual variation in TPA incidence. Clear peaks in the incidence of TPAs occur in March and September; a less pronounced peak appears in November. We also examine seasonal variation in the northward interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) over the same time period. The intensity and occurrence rate of the northward IMF exhibit patterns similar to that of the TPA incidence. Having studied IMFB _z before TPA onset, we find that strong and steady northward IMF conditions are favorable for TPA formation. We suggest that the semiannual variation observed in TPA incidence may be related to the Russell–McPherron (R-M) effect due to the projection effect of the IMFB _y under northward IMF conditions.

The characteristics of high-frequency (HF) electromagnetic (EM) wave propagation can be affected when EM waves propagate in the ionosphere. When ionospheric irregularities appear in the ionosphere, they can have a serious impact on the propagation of HF EM waves. In this study, the propagation of HF EM waves in ionospheric irregularities was investigated by numerical simulation. First, a two-dimensional model of plasma bubbles was used to produce ionospheric irregularities in the ionosphere. A ray-tracing method was then utilized to simulate the propagation of HF radio waves in these ionospheric irregularities. Results showed that the propagation of HF radio waves in the ionosphere was more complex in ionospheric irregularities than without ionospheric irregularities. In addition, corresponding ionograms were synthesized by radio rays propagated in the ionosphere with these irregularities. The synthesized ionograms were then compared with the experimental ionograms recorded by an ionosonde. Results showed that spread F could be simulated on the ionograms when ionospheric irregularities occurred in the ionosphere. This result was consistent with the ionosonde observations.

Global geopotential models have not included the very high frequencies of the Earth's external gravity field. This is called omission error. This omission error becomes more important in mountainous areas (areas with highly variable topography). The work reported here consists in reducing the omission error in measurements of Bouguer gravity anomalies, by refining the global geopotential model EGM2008 using the spectral enhancement method. This method consists in computing the residual terrain effects and then coupling them to the gravimetric signal of the global geopotential model. To compute the residual terrain effects, we used the Residual Terrain Model (RTM) technique. To refine it required a reference surface (ETOPO1) developed up to degree 2190 (the maximum degree of the EGM2008 model) and a detailed elevation model (AW3D30). Computation was performed with the TC program of the GRAVSOFT package. The topography of the study area was assumed to have a constant density of 2670 kg/m³. For the inner and outer zones, the respective integration radii of 10 km and 200 km have been chosen. We obtained very important RTM values ranging from −53.59 to 34.79 mGal. These values were added to the gravity anomalies grid of the EGM2008 model to improve accuracy at high frequencies. On a part of the Cameroon Volcanic Line and its surroundings (mountainous area), we made a comparison between the residual Bouguer anomalies before and after refinement. We report differences ranging from −37.40 to 26.40 mGal. We conclude that the impact of omission error on gravimetric signatures is observed especially in areas with high variable topography, such as on the Cameroon Volcanic Line and around the localities of Takamanda, Essu, Dumbo, and Ngambe. This finding illustrates the great influence that topography has on accurate measurement of these gravity anomalies, and thus why topography must be taken into account. We can conclude that in preparing a global geopotential model, a high resolution DTM must be used to decrease the omission error: the degree of expansion has to increase in order to take the higher frequencies into account. The refined Bouguer anomalies grid presented here can be used in addition to terrestrial gravity anomalies in the study area, especially in mountainous areas where gravimetric data are very sparse or non-existent.