Impact of Plasma Depletion on the Occurrence of Scintillation in the Minimum Years Phase of Solar Cycle 23

Abstract

AbstractPlasma depletion as part of space weather has a role in scintillation events that can impact satellite communication systems, satellite-based navigation, and radio communications. Therefore, it is now essential to understand how space weather events play a role in scintillation events. This study uses an All-Sky Imager (ASI), ionosonde, and GPS Scintillation Receivers were used in Kototabang (0.2° S, 100.3° E, −10.4° magnetic latitude) Indonesia. Plasma depletion events in the form of Equatorial Plasma Bubble (EPB) and Equatorial Spread F (ESF) will be observed from a day-to-day occurrence during minimum solar activity (2008–2009), then studied based on the emergence of post-sunset, midnight, and post-midnight as well as relation to scintillation. Of the four days of EPB emergence during minimum solar activity, there were more EPB occurrences around midnight than in the post-sunset period, and no EPB occurrences were found for post-midnight. EPB that appears after sunset is immediately followed by scintillation events, while the emergence at midnight takes several hours before scintillation occurs. At the peak of minimum solar activity (2009), the emergence of EPB was not followed by scintillation events either at post-sunset or midnight. This indicates that plasma depletion and scintillation at the peak of the year of minimum solar activity do not always coincide. We found a specific case where scintillation was not observed in an EPB but in the next adjacent EPB. It cannot be explained by the simple decay of irregularities at later local times.KeywordsEquatorial Plasma BubbleEquatorial Spread FScintillationSolar Activity