Ionospheric single crest events at different altitudes and activity levels observed by Swarm constellation

Abstract

The current work makes use of eight years of electron density data observed by the Swarm constellation to study the characteristics of the equatorial ionospheric single crest phenomenon recorded at the altitudes of these satellites. The features of single crests have been investigated at different altitudes and geomagnetic activity levels. Results showed that the occurrence rate of a single crest was not significantly different between the lower and higher satellite altitudes. The relationship between the occurrence of single crests and the Kp index has shown a dramatic enhancement at high level activities. In addition, the occurrence of single crest has dramatically enhanced with the strength of both the interplanetary electric field and the north-south interplanetary magnetic field. Also, irrespective of season, the South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA) region has always shown a large occurrence of single crest events compared to other longitudes. In addition, the occurrence of the events is always larger during equinoxes than during summer and winter solstices. The significant occurrence of single crest recorded during both equinoxes and the maximum phase of the solar cycle (F10.7 index) and those observed over the SSA region, suggests an alignment between the strength of electron density and the occurrence rate of single crests.