Abstract
Total electron content (TEC) data of 14 global positioning system (GPS) stations of the EUREF network were provided by the IONOLAB. These were analyzed using wavelet analysis and discrete Fourier analysis to investigate the TEC variations over southern Europe in the month before the catastrophic Abruzzo earthquake of M 6.3 of April 6, 2009. The main conclusions of this analysis are: (a) TEC oscillations in a broad range of frequencies occurred randomly over a broad area of several hundred kilometers from the earthquake; (b) Morning and evening extensions of the day-time TEC values were seen for all of the EUREF stations of this program shortly before, during and shortly after the main earthquake period; (c) High frequency oscillations (f $ 0.0003 Hz, period T $ 60 m) appear to indicate the location of the earthquake, although with questionable accuracy, while the fractal characteristics of the frequency distribution indicates the locus of the earthquake with relatively greater accuracy. We conclude that the lithosphere-atmosphere-ionosphere coupling mechanism through acoustic or gravity waves might explain this phenomenology.
Highlights
It is generally accepted by the scientific community that the tectonic activity that results in earthquakes can induce variations in the Earth ionosphere through the socalled lithosphere-atmosphere-ionosphere coupling (LAIC) mechanism [Molchanov et al 2004, Molchanov and Hayakawa 2008, Korepanov et al 2009]
2.1 total electron content (TEC) data and Dst index In the present study, we were interested in the variations in TEC over a broad area around the catastrophic Abruzzo earthquake, so we used TEC estimates provided by IONOLAB [Arikan et al 2009] for the global positioning system (GPS) stations of EUREF, which cover the south of Europe, for the time period between March 11, 2009, and April 9, 2009
Inspecting these daily TEC variations for each station, we can define some differences from their comparisons
Summary
It is generally accepted by the scientific community that the tectonic activity that results in earthquakes can induce variations in the Earth ionosphere through the socalled lithosphere-atmosphere-ionosphere coupling (LAIC) mechanism [Molchanov et al 2004, Molchanov and Hayakawa 2008, Korepanov et al 2009]. 2.1 TEC data and Dst index In the present study, we were interested in the variations in TEC over a broad area around the catastrophic Abruzzo earthquake, so we used TEC estimates provided by IONOLAB (http://www.ionolab.org) [Arikan et al 2009] for the GPS stations of EUREF, which cover the south of Europe, for the time period between March 11, 2009, and April 9, 2009.
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