Dynamic Changes of the Ionospheric Artificial Airglow Region Caused by High-Power Radio Waves Based on a Joint Analysis of Night-Sky Snapshots in the 630 nm Line and Total Electron Content Variation Maps

Abstract

We describe a method for joint analysis of the night-sky snapshots and total electron content (TEC) variation maps and present a dynamic spatiotemporal configuration of the TEC variation intensity in the ionospheric airglow region in the red line of atomic oxygen (λ = 630 nm) stimulated by high-power radio waves from the Sura facility. The measurements were performed on the 29th of August, 2016. Two-dimensional TEC variation maps were plotted according to a network of 30 GNSS stations located within a radius of 700 km from the Sura heater. It is shown that the region of the maximum brightness of the artificial ionospheric airglow spot is spatially localized in the region of the minimum intensity of TEC variations, while the region of the maximum intensity of TEC variations corresponds to the region of the minimum brightness of the artificial airglow spot. Quantitative estimates for a cavity with reduced electron density in the artificial airglow region, which forms after the Sura pump wave is switched on, vary in the range ΔNe/Ne ≈ 4–9%, where Ne is the electron density and ΔNe is its variation in the cavity. The proposed experimental technique eliminates the limitations associated with the need for a navigation satellite to flyby directly over the main lobe of the Sura antenna pattern, which significantly increases the chances of successful simultaneous measurements of TEC variations and artificial ionospheric airglow in the 630 nm line.