IMF effect on sporadic-E layers at two northern polar cap sites: Part I ? Statistical study

International audienceIn this paper we investigate the relationship between polar cap sporadic-E layers and the direction of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) using a 2-year database from Longyearbyen (75.2 CGM Lat, Svalbard) and Thule (85.4 CGM Lat, Greenland). It is found that the MLT distributions of sporadic-E occurrence are different at the two stations, but both are related to the IMF orientation. This relationship, however, changes from the centre of the polar cap to its border. Layers are more frequent during positive By at both stations. This effect is particularly strong in the central polar cap at Thule, where a weak effect associated with Bz is also observed, with positive Bz correlating with a higher occurrence of Es. Close to the polar cap boundary, at Longyearbyen, the By effect is weaker than at Thule. On the other hand, Bz plays there an equally important role as By, with negative Bz correlating with the Es occurrence. Since Es layers can be created by electric fields at high latitudes, a possible explanation for the observations is that the layers are produced by the polar cap electric field controlled by the IMF. Using electric field estimates calculated by means of the statistical APL convection model from IMF observations, we find that the diurnal distributions of sporadic-E occurrence can generally be explained in terms of the electric field mechanism. However, other factors must be considered to explain why more layers occur during positive than during negative By and why the Bz dependence of layer occurrence in the central polar cap is different from that at the polar cap boundary

HF radar observations of a quasi‐biennial oscillation in midlatitude mesospheric winds

The equatorial quasi‐biennial oscillation (QBO) is known to be an important source of interannual variability in the middle‐ and high‐latitude stratosphere. The influence of the QBO on the stratospheric polar vortex in particular has been extensively studied. However, the impact of the QBO on the winds of the midlatitude mesosphere is much less clear. We have applied 13 years (2002–2014) of data from the Saskatoon Super Dual Auroral Radar Network HF radar to show that there is a strong QBO signature in the midlatitude mesospheric zonal winds during the late winter months. We find that the Saskatoon mesospheric winds are related to the winds of the equatorial QBO at 50 hPa such that the westerly mesospheric winds strengthen when QBO is easterly, and vice versa. We also consider the situation in the late winter Saskatoon stratosphere using the European Centre for Medium‐Range Weather Forecasts ERA‐Interim reanalysis data set. We find that the Saskatoon stratospheric winds between 7 hPa and 70 hPa weaken when the equatorial QBO at 50 hPa is easterly, and vice versa. We speculate that gravity wave filtering from the QBO‐modulated stratospheric winds and subsequent opposite momentum deposition in the mesosphere plays a major role in the appearance of the QBO signature in the late winter Saskatoon mesospheric winds, thereby coupling the equatorial stratosphere and the midlatitude mesosphere.Key PointsA significant mesospheric QBO signature is observed at Saskatoon using midlatitude SuperDARN HF radar during late winterSaskatoon MQBO signature is significantly correlated with equatorial QBOFiltering of gravity waves through Saskatoon stratospheric winds and opposite momentum deposition in the mesosphere leads to MQBOPeer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/135660/1/jgrd53414.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/135660/2/jgrd53414_am.pd

GPS Phase Scintillation at High Latitudes during Geomagnetic Storms of 7–17 March 2012 – Part 1: The North American Sector

During the ascending phase of solar cycle 24, a series of interplanetary coronal mass ejections (ICMEs) in the period 7–17 March 2012 caused geomagnetic storms that strongly affected high-latitude ionosphere in the Northern and Southern Hemisphere. GPS phase scintillation was observed at northern and southern high latitudes by arrays of GPS ionospheric scintillation and TEC monitors (GISTMs) and geodetic-quality GPS receivers sampling at 1 Hz. Mapped as a function of magnetic latitude and magnetic local time, regions of enhanced scintillation are identified in the context of coupling processes between the solar wind and the magnetosphere–ionosphere system. Large southward IMF and high solar wind dynamic pressure resulted in the strongest scintillation in the nightside auroral oval. Scintillation occurrence was correlated with ground magnetic field perturbations and riometer absorption enhancements, and collocated with mapped auroral emission. During periods of southward IMF, scintillation was also collocated with ionospheric convection in the expanded dawn and dusk cells, with the antisunward convection in the polar cap and with a tongue of ionization fractured into patches. In contrast, large northward IMF combined with a strong solar wind dynamic pressure pulse was followed by scintillation caused by transpolar arcs in the polar cap

The magnetic storms of 3_4 August 2010 and 5_6 August 2011: 1. Ground- and space-based observations

We have used total electron content (TEC) values from low, middle, and high latitudes recorded over the American continent and density and ion temperature measured in situ by the DMSP-F15 and F17 satellites during the geomagnetic storms of 3_4 August 2010 and 5_6 August 2011 to study the formation and dynamics of plasma density enhancements that developed during these two storms. Common to both storms are the timing of the main phase that extends between 20 and 24 UT and their seasonality with both storms occurring near the end of the Northern Hemisphere summer solstice. During both storms, TEC data show incipient equatorial anomalies lacking a poleward expansion beyond 20Á magnetic latitude. Two large-scale TEC enhancements were observed at middle latitudes showing a complicated pattern of structuring and merging. The first TEC enhancement corresponds to a storm-enhanced density (SED) seen between 21 and 01 UT on the following day. The second TEC enhancement was observed over Central America, located equatorward of the SED and apparently moving northward. However, careful analysis of the TEC values indicates that this second TEC enhancement is not transported from lower latitudes through a superfountain effect. Instead, the enhanced plasma has a local origin and is driven by a southward directed meridional wind that moves plasma up the tilted magnetic field lines. DMSP flights passing over the second TEC enhancement show a reduction of the ion temperature, confirming an adiabatic expansion of the plasma as it moves up the field lines. It is concluded that the midlatitude TEC enhancements do not arise from a low-latitude ionospheric fountain effect. ©2017. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved