Magnetic Storm Effects on the Occurrence and Characteristics of Plasma Bubbles

Abstract

AbstractThe Communications/Navigation Outages Forecast System satellite mission was designed to investigate the ionospheric conditions that lead to the formation of irregularities. Here, we have studied the effect of magnetic storms on the formation and evolution of plasma bubbles during the satellite's lifetime (2008–2015). During this period encompassing solar minimum and maximum conditions, many magnetic storms of varying intensity developed, producing a unique and rich data set of 248 storms (14 intense, 69 moderate, and 165 weak) that occurred during the same timeframe to examine the role of external magnetospheric drivers in the production and dynamics of equatorial plasma bubbles. We have used the Planar Langmuir Probe and Ion Velocity Meter instruments to elucidate the role of magnetic storm intensity on the bubble's depth, internal speed, width, occurrence, and lifetime. The pre‐reversal enhancement (PRE) tends to increase during the main phase and when BZ is southward. New bubbles occur during large excursions of the PRE value. The bubble lifetime extends and remains active during the main and part of the recovery phase. The plasma velocity within the bubbles increases and typically becomes over 100 m/s during significant PRE and BZ negative times. The depth of bubbles reaches values close to 100% during intense storms. In general, the intensity of the storms seems to control and augment the plasma bubbles' depth, width, and internal velocity.