Model calculations of possible ionospheric backscatter echo area for a mid-latitude HF radar

HF ray path calculation is performed in order to identify possible ionospheric backscatter echo area for an HF radar at mid-latitude. The calculation is made on the basis of the R.M. Jones and J.J. Stephenson (U.S. Dept. of Commerce, OT Rep. 75-76, 1975) HF ray path tracing algorithm plus the IRI-2001 ionosphere model. It is shown that depending on the local time and geomagnetic activity, the possible ionospheric backscatter regions have different distributions. In any case the backscatter region is large enough, indicating the capability of a planned HF radar in Hokkaido (43.5°N, 143.6°E), Japan

Study of ionospheric disturbances during solar flare events using the SuperDARN Hokkaido radar

It is well known that many types of ionospheric disturbances occur during solar flare events. The sudden increase in total electron content (SITEC) has been studied for several decades, but total electron content (TEC) data do not provide information on the altitudinal distribution of electron density changes. Previous studies used HF Doppler system data to investigate the contributions of the D-region and F-region ionospheric electron density changes by examining the HF radio wave frequency dependence on the Doppler shift values. In this study we examined the dependence of the elevation angle of the Doppler shift of ground scatter echoes using the SuperDARN Hokkaido radar. We analyzed solar flare events from Dec 2006 to Mar 2012. A sudden fade-out of echoes was observed in almost all the events we analyzed, which was the result of the radio absorption associated with a significant increase in electron density within the D-region ionosphere. In addition, we discovered positive Doppler shifts just before the sudden fade-out of echoes. The Doppler shift is negatively correlated with the elevation angle of received radar waves. It indicates that variation of electron density in the D-region ionosphere is dominant during solar flare events. This result is consistent with a previous study. We also compared the irradiation by X-ray and extreme ultra violet rays observed by the GOES-14 and GOES-15 satellites, which generated Doppler shifts. A positive Doppler shift is consistent with a change of X-ray flux

Distortion of the outer boundary of the closed region in the Tsyganenko magnetic field model

Using the Tsyganenko magnetic field model (TSYGANENKO, Planet. Space Sci., 37, 5, 1989) we make an attempt to determine the outer boundary of the closed region when the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) is southward. As a simple magnetic field model including the effect of IMF B_z<0, the B_z component of a constant value of minus a few nanoTeslas is added to the magnetic field in the Tsyganenko model with low K_p values. In this paper, if the magnetic field strength, B, is not less than 2 nT in the whole range of a field line (namely the minimum B along a field line is greater than 2 nT), this field line is judged to be "firmly" closed. The firmly closed field lines are thought to be definitely closed as long as the fluctuation amplitude of B_z (around its average level) in the interplanetary (solar wind) magnetic field is less than 2 nT. The outer boundary of the firmly closed region is then constituted by field lines with the minimum B of 2 nT. This boundary is found to be close to (just inside of) the open-closed boundary, which can be determined with accuracy of 0.01° in latitude of the foot point of a field line. It is found that a circle with the center at a latitude of about 85° on the midnight meridian can be fitted to the outer boundary of the firmly closed region, as it is projected to the ionosphere. Interestingly this circle coincides with a typical auroral circle; the auroral circles are those delineating the poleward boundary of the quiet auroral belt, which were earlier identified from the statistical analysis of satellites\u27 auroral images by MENG et al. (J. Geophys. Res., 82, 164, 1977). Importantly we find that the outer boundary of the firmly closed region is "distorted" on the nightside in the sense that the ionospheric projection of the average magnetic drift velocity of a plasma with isotropic pressure is not parallel to the boundary; more specifically, that of an isotropic ion fluid has an equatorward component on the duskside boundary and a poleward one on the dawnside boundary, respectively. This kind of the boundary distortion may be one of the possible causes of the generation of the nightside region 1 field-aligned current, which has been first suggested by HRUSKA (J. Geophys. Res., 91, 371, 1986) and recently, further studied by YAMAMOTO and INOUE (Proc. NIPR Symp. Upper Atmos. Phys., 11, 106, 1998)

Implications of statistics of near-range Doppler velocity observed with the Syowa East HF radar

A large data-set of line-of-sight Doppler velocity obtained with the Antarctic Syowa East HF radar from February to December 1997 is analyzed to discuss the statistical characteristics of Doppler velocity (V_D) at ranges of 180-1200 km and their implications. Syowa Station K-indices during the observation period were between 0 and 7 with a maximum occurrence at K = 1. On average V_D has a minimum of about 100 m/s at 180-225 km ranges. With increasing range it increases monotonically to attain a maximum of 300-350 m/s at 400-500 km, decreases gradually to reach 250-300 m/s at about 700km, and again increases slowly at farther ranges. These values of V_D and the range vary depending on both local time and radar beam direction. In the light of recent knowledge of plasma instabilities in the ionosphere we suggest that such range profile of V_D is mainly caused by the combined effects of altitude-dependent phase velocities of ionospheric plasma waves, HF wave refraction due to enhanced E region electron density, and latitude-dependent electric field. We infer that the low V_D (～ 100 m/s) at ranges of 180-225 km may originate in part from neutral winds and/or turbulence of the neutral atmosphere

Study of characteristics of ionospheric disturbances during solar flare events with the SuperDARN Hokkaido Radar

第3回極域科学シンポジウム/第36回極域宙空圏シンポジウム 11月26日（月）、27日（火） 国立極地研究所 2階ラウン

E region echoes observed with the Syowa HF radar under disturbed geomagnetic conditions

E region radar echo parameters (echo power, Doppler velocity and spectral width) obtained with the Syowa Station HF radar under disturbed geomagnetic conditions are qualitatively analyzed to study how echoing region changes due to HF wave refraction caused by ionospheric disturbance. It is found that with increasing disturbance level, echo ranges become shorter because of wave refraction during propagation due to more enhanced D and E region electron density. When geomagnetic H component variation (ΔH) is less than about -900 nT, echoes are returned from the central E region where geomagnetic aspect angle is close to zero. When ΔH is very high (= - 1500nT), the echoes are backscattered from the D and lower E regions and their power, Doppler velocity and spectral width are largely suppressed. The results suggest that we must always consider, more or less, wave refraction effect in analyzing near-range E region HF radar echoes

Summer time dayside ionospheric backscatter echoes observed by the SuperDARN Hokkaido radar

第2回極域科学シンポジウム/第35回極域宙空圏シンポジウム 11月14日（月） 国立極地研究所 2階大会議

Statistical analysis of echo power, Doppler velocity and spectral width obtained with the Syowa South HF radar

Statistical analyses are made of the physical parameters (echo power, Doppler velocity and spectral width) of Doppler spectra obtained in September 1995 with the Syowa South HF radar. We present time and range distributions and histograms of the parameters and cross-correlations among them. With K index at Syowa Station the distributions and histograms vary slightly but the correlations do not change so much. The most noticeable feature is that there is a positive correlation between the absolute values of Doppler velocity and echo power. This relationship can be interpreted in terms of the gradient-drift instability which is the most probable cause to generate decameter-scale irregularities in the F-region ionosphere

Characteristics of polar mesosphere summer echoes observed with oblique incidence HF radars at Syowa Station

Polar mesosphere summer echoes(PMSE) are strong VHF-UHF radar echoes from the high-latitude cold mesopause at around 80-90km altitudes in summer. Although a number of in situ and radar observations of PMSE have been made until now, generation mechanisms of PMSE and scattering processes of radar waves due to PMSE-associated irregularities are still controversial. In this paper, PMSE detected for the first time in December 1997 and January 1998 with the oblique incidence SuperDARN HF radars at Syowa Station, Antarctica(69.0°S , 39.6°E ), are summarized to reveal the characteristics of PMSE at HF band. They appear at slant ranges of 180-315km with elevation angles of 15°-30° between 1030 and 1230UT or between 2100 and 0140UT, and are characterized by durations of 65-110min with intermittent subsidence and quasi-periodic oscillations of echo power with periods of 5-20min, due to short-period atmospheric gravity waves. Detailed analysis of the December 15, 1997 event reveals the followings: 1) echo power is less than 30dB, Doppler velocity between -40 and +40m/s, and spectral width less than 50m/s, respectively, 2) there exists no particular correlation among power, velocity and width, and 3) PMSE occurrence can be related to eastward neutral wind due to semi-diurnal tide that may induce the decrease in the mesospheric temperature