European Incoherent Scatter Research Articles

Simultaneous observations of traveling convection vortices: Ionosphere‐thermosphere coupling

AbstractWe present simultaneous observations of magnetosphere‐ionosphere‐thermosphere coupling over Svalbard during a traveling convection vortex (TCV) event. Various spaceborne and ground‐based instruments made coordinated measurements, including magnetometers, particle detectors, an all‐sky camera, European Incoherent Scatter (EISCAT) Svalbard Radar, Super Dual Auroral Radar Network (SuperDARN), and SCANning Doppler Imager (SCANDI). The instruments recorded TCVs associated with a sudden change in solar wind dynamic pressure. The data display typical features of TCVs including vortical ionospheric convection patterns seen by the ground magnetometers and SuperDARN radars and auroral precipitation near the cusp observed by the all‐sky camera. Simultaneously, electron and ion temperature enhancements with corresponding density increase from soft precipitation are also observed by the EISCAT Svalbard Radar. The ground magnetometers also detected electromagnetic ion cyclotron waves at the approximate time of the TCV arrival. This implies that they were generated by a temperature anisotropy resulting from a compression on the dayside magnetosphere. SCANDI data show a divergence in thermospheric winds during the TCVs, presumably due to thermospheric heating associated with the current closure linked to a field‐aligned current system generated by the TCVs. We conclude that solar wind pressure impulse‐related transient phenomena can affect even the upper atmospheric dynamics via current systems established by a magnetosphere‐ionosphere‐thermosphere coupling process.

Equatorward propagating auroral arcs driven by ULF wave activity: Multipoint ground‐ and space‐based observations in the dusk sector auroral oval

AbstractObservations of multiple equatorward propagating arcs driven by a resonant Alfvén wave on closed field lines are presented. Data sets from the European Incoherent Scatter Svalbard Radar (ESR) and Meridian Scanning Photometer in Longyearbyen, All‐Sky Camera in Ny Ålesund, ground magnetometer data in Svalbard, and Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) F16 satellite were utilized to study the arc structures. The arcs had an equatorward phase propagation of ~0.46 km s−1 and were observed in the dusk ionosphere from 1800 to 2030 magnetic local time. Analysis of the optical data indicates that the Alfvén wave had a frequency of 1.63 mHz and an azimuthal wave number, m ~ −20 (the negative sign indicating a westward propagation). Inverted‐V electron populations associated with field‐aligned currents of between 0.5 and 0.8 μA m−2 are observed by DMSP F16 inside the arc structures. In addition to electron density enhancements associated with the arcs, the ESR data show elevated ion temperatures in between the arcs consistent with electric field enhancements and ionospheric heating effects. The combination of ESR and DMSP F16 data indicates that the wave energy was dissipated through ionospheric Joule and/or ion frictional heating and acceleration of particles into the ionosphere, generating the auroral displays. The fine‐scale structuring, in addition to the propagation direction and scale size, would suggest that the auroral features are the signatures of a field line resonance driven by an interaction with a compressional fast mode wave propagating earthward from the magnetotail.

Analysis of incoherent scatter during ionospheric heating near the fifth electron gyrofrequency

The observation of ultra-high frequency radar during an ionospheric heating experiment carried out at Tromsø site of European Incoherent Scatter Scientific Association, Norway, is analyzed. When pump is operating slightly above the fifth electron gyrofrequency, some strong enhancements in radar echo and electron density occur in a wide altitude range and are in sync with the shifting and spread of plasma line around the reflection altitude, which may be due to the focusing or collimating of radar wave by irregularities. While some strong enhancements in electron density and radar echo around the reflection altitude do not correspond to the true increase in electron density, but due to the enhanced ion acoustic wave by parametric decay instability and oscillation two stream instability. In addition, the different heating rates and cooling rates at the pump frequencies below, around and above fifth gyrofrequency respectively result in the dependence of the enhancements in electron temperature on the pump frequency.

Horizontal profile of a moving red line cusp aurora

AbstractAuroral emission at a wavelength of 630.0 nm (red line) has a long radiative time. In this study, we show how this long radiative time controls the horizontal extent of a moving mesoscale aurora, which is typical of the cusp. Using high time resolution (4 s) observations by an all‐sky imager at Longyearbyen, Svalbard, and observations by the European Incoherent Scatter Svalbard Radar (ESR), we examined the auroral emission enhancements obtained in the cusp during an interval of southward interplanetary magnetic field on 27 November 2011. Simultaneous observations from the all‐sky imager and the ESR clearly show the manner in which auroral emission regions passed through the radar's field of view. When the front edge of the moving auroral structure intersected the radar's field of view, the ESR electron temperature was enhanced. A few minutes later, the ESR electron temperature dropped to the background level, indicating that the mesoscale electron precipitation region shifted away from the radar's field of view. At that time, the auroral emission in the radar's field of view decreased but still had adequate intensities. These results provide evidence demonstrating that moving cusp auroral emission occurs behind the electron precipitation region as well as inside that region. We interpreted this feature semiquantitatively by using the equation of continuity of the density of the excited atomic oxygen. Our model indicates that the maximum intensity in the moving auroral structure occurs at a point along the trailing edge of the electron precipitation region and that the velocity of that region is important for determining how the 630.0 nm aurora emissions extend horizontally.

First observations of electron gyro-harmonic effects under X-mode HF pumping the high latitude ionospheric F-region

We provide the first experimental evidence of the sensitivity of phenomena induced by extraordinary (X-mode) polarized HF high power radio waves to pump frequency stepping across the fifth electron gyro-harmonic (5fce) from below to above. The results were obtained at the EISCAT (European Incoherent Scatter Scientific Association) HF heater facility near Tromsø under effective radiated powers of 456–715MW, when the HF pump wave was transmitted into the magnetic zenith. We have analyzed the behavior and intensities of various spectral lines in the narrowband stimulated electromagnetic emission (SEE) spectra observed far from the heater, HF-enhanced plasma and ion lines (HFPL and HFIL) from EISCAT UHF incoherent scatter radar spectra, and artificial field-aligned irregularities from CUTLASS (Co-operative UK Twin Located Auroral Sounding System) observations, depending on the frequency offset of the pump field relative to the 5fce. At pump frequencies below 5fce the narrowband SEE spectra exhibited very intense so-called stimulated ion Bernstein scatter (SIBS), accompanied by other spectral components, associated with stimulated Brillouin scatter (SBS), which are greatly suppressed and disappeared in the vicinity of 5fce and did not reappear at fH>5fce. As the pump frequency reached 5fce, the abrupt enhancements of the HFPL and HFIL power, the appearance of cascade lines in the plasma line spectra, and the onset of increasing CUTLASS backscatter power occurred. That is opposite to the ordinary mode (O-mode) effects in the vicinity of 5fce. The X-mode pumping at frequencies below and in the vicinity of the fifth electron gyro-harmonic clearly demonstrated an ascending altitude of generation of induced plasma and ion lines from the initial interaction height, whereas for O-mode heating the region of interaction descended. The observations are consistent with the coexistence of the electron acceleration along and across the geomagnetic field at fH<5fce, while only very strong electron acceleration along the magnetic field was observed at fH≥5fce.

Depletion of mesospheric sodium during extended period of pulsating aurora

AbstractWe quantitatively evaluated the Na density depletion due to charge transfer reactions between Na atoms and molecular ions produced by high‐energy electron precipitation during a pulsating aurora (PsA). An extended period of PsA was captured by an all‐sky camera at the European Incoherent Scatter (EISCAT) radar Tromsø site (69.6°N, 19.2°E) during a 2 h interval from 00:00 to 02:00 UT on 25 January 2012. During this period, using the EISCAT very high frequency (VHF) radar, we detected three intervals of intense ionization below 100 km that were probably caused by precipitation of high‐energy electrons during the PsA. In these intervals, the sodium lidar at Tromsø observed characteristic depletion of Na density at altitudes between 97 and 100 km. These Na density depletions lasted for 8 min and represented 5–8% of the background Na layer. To examine the cause of this depletion, we modeled the depletion rate based on charge transfer reactions with NO+ and while changing the R value which is defined as the ratio of NO+ to densities, from 1 to 10. The correlation coefficients between observed and modeled Na density depletion calculated with typical value R = 3 for time intervals T1, T2, and T3 were 0.66, 0.80, and 0.67, respectively. The observed Na density depletion rates fall within the range of modeled depletion rate calculated with R from 1 to 10. This suggests that the charge transfer reactions triggered by the auroral impact ionization at low altitudes are the predominant process responsible for Na density depletion during PsA intervals.

Identification of scintillation signatures on GPS signals originating from plasma structures detected with EISCAT incoherent scatter radar along the same line of sight.

Ionospheric scintillation originates from the scattering of electromagnetic waves through spatial gradients in the plasma density distribution, drifting across a given propagation direction. Ionospheric scintillation represents a disruptive manifestation of adverse space weather conditions through degradation of the reliability and continuity of satellite telecommunication and navigation systems and services (e.g., European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service, EGNOS). The purpose of the experiment presented here was to determine the contribution of auroral ionization structures to GPS scintillation. European Incoherent Scatter (EISCAT) measurements were obtained along the same line of sight of a given GPS satellite observed from Tromso and followed by means of the EISCAT UHF radar to causally identify plasma structures that give rise to scintillation on the co‐aligned GPS radio link. Large‐scale structures associated with the poleward edge of the ionospheric trough, with auroral arcs in the nightside auroral oval and with particle precipitation at the onset of a substorm were indeed identified as responsible for enhanced phase scintillation at L band. For the first time it was observed that the observed large‐scale structures did not cascade into smaller‐scale structures, leading to enhanced phase scintillation without amplitude scintillation. More measurements and theory are necessary to understand the mechanism responsible for the inhibition of large‐scale to small‐scale energy cascade and to reproduce the observations. This aspect is fundamental to model the scattering of radio waves propagating through these ionization structures. New insights from this experiment allow a better characterization of the impact that space weather can have on satellite telecommunications and navigation services.

The behavior of electron density and temperature during ionospheric heating near the fifth electron gyrofrequency

AbstractThe experimental phenomena involving the changes in electron temperature and electron density as a function of pump frequency during an ionospheric heating campaign at European Incoherent Scatter near Tromsø, Norway, are reported. When the pump frequency is slightly above the fifth electron gyrofrequency, the UHF radar observation shows some apparent enhancements over a wide altitude range in radar echo, ion line, and electron density respectively, which are apparently altitude independent and consistent temporally with the upshifting and spread of plasma line around the reflection altitude. However, they do not, in fact, correspond to true increase in electron density. Based on some existing theories, some discussions are presented to try to explain the above enhancements and the upshifting and spread of plasma line. Even so, the mechanism remains to be determined. In addition, the observation also shows some enhancements in electron temperature as a function of pump frequency around the reflection altitude of the pump, which are dependent on the behavior of dispersion of the upper hybrid wave near the fifth electron gyrofrequency.

On the contribution of thermal excitation to the total 630.0 nm emissions in the northern cusp ionosphere

AbstractDirect impact excitation by precipitating electrons is believed to be the main source of 630.0 nm emissions in the cusp ionosphere. However, this paper investigates a different source, 630.0 emissions caused by thermally excited atomic oxygen O(1D) when high electron temperature prevail in the cusp. On 22 January 2012 and 14 January 2013, the European Incoherent Scatter Scientific Association (EISCAT) radar on Svalbard measured electron temperature enhancements exceeding 3000 K near magnetic noon in the cusp ionosphere over Svalbard. The electron temperature enhancements corresponded to electron density enhancements exceeding 1011 m−3 accompanied by intense 630.0 nm emissions in a field of view common to both the EISCAT Svalbard radar and a meridian scanning photometer. This offered an excellent opportunity to investigate the role of thermally excited O(1D) 630.0 nm emissions in the cusp ionosphere. The thermal component was derived from the EISCAT Radar measurements and compared with optical data. For both events the calculated thermal component had a correlation coefficient greater than 0.8 to the total observed 630.0 nm intensity which contains both thermal and particle impact components. Despite fairly constant solar wind, the calculated thermal component intensity fluctuated possibly due to dayside transients in the aurora.

Postmidnight ionospheric troughs in summer at high latitudes

AbstractIn this article we identify possible mechanisms for the formation of postmidnight ionospheric troughs during summer, in sunlit plasma. Four events were identified in measurements of European Incoherent Scatter and ESR radars during CP3 experiments, when the ionosphere was scanned in a meridional plan. The spatial and temporal variation of plasma density, ion, and electron temperatures were analyzed for each of the four events. Super Dual Auroral Radar Network plasma velocity measurements were added, when these were available. For all high‐latitude troughs the ion temperatures are high at density minima (within the trough), at places where the convection plasma velocity is eastward and high. There is no significant change in electron temperature inside the trough, regardless of its temporal evolution. We find that troughs in sunlit plasma form in two steps: the trough starts to form when energetic electron precipitation leads to faster recombination in the F region, and it deepens when entering a region with high eastward flow, producing frictional heating and further depleting the plasma. The high‐latitude plasma convection plays an important role in formation and evolution of troughs in the postmidnight sector in sunlit plasma. During one event a second trough is identified at midlatitudes, with different characteristics, which is most likely produced by a rapid subauroral ion drift in the premidnight sector.

First wind shear observation in PMSE with the tristatic EISCAT VHF radar

AbstractThe Polar Summer Mesosphere has the lowest temperatures that occur in the entire Earth system. Water ice particles below the optically observable size range participate there in the formation of strong radar echoes (Polar Mesospheric Summer Echoes, PMSE). To study PMSE we carried out observations with the European Incoherent Scatter (EISCAT) VHF and EISCAT UHF radar simultaneously from a site near Tromsø (69.58°N, 19.2272°E) and observed VHF backscattering also with the EISCAT receivers in Kiruna (67.86°N, 20.44°E) and Sodankylä (67.36°N, 26.63°E). This is one of the first tristatic measurements with EISCAT VHF, and we therefore describe the observations and geometry in detail. We present observations made on 26 June 2013 from 7:00 to 13:00 h UT where we found similar PMSE patterns with all three VHF receivers and found signs of wind shear in PMSE. The observations suggest that the PMSE contains sublayers that move in different directions horizontally, and this points to Kelvin‐Helmholtz instability possibly playing a role in PMSE formation. We find no signs of PMSE in the UHF data. The electron densities that we derive from observed incoherent scatter at UHF are at PMSE altitudes close to the noise level but possibly indicate reduced electron densities directly above the PMSE.

Mesospheric ozone destruction by high‐energy electron precipitation associated with pulsating aurora

AbstractEnergetic particle precipitation into the upper atmosphere creates excess amounts of odd nitrogen and odd hydrogen. These destroy mesospheric and upper stratospheric ozone in catalytic reaction chains, either in situ at the altitude of the energy deposition or indirectly due to transport to other altitudes and latitudes. Recent statistical analysis of satellite data on mesospheric ozone reveals that the variations during energetic electron precipitation from Earth's radiation belts can be tens of percent. Here we report model calculations of ozone destruction due to a single event of pulsating aurora early in the morning on 17 November 2012. The presence of high‐energy component in the precipitating electron flux (&gt;200 keV) was detected as ionization down to 68 km altitude, by the VHF incoherent scatter radar of European Incoherent Scatter (EISCAT) Scientific Association (EISCAT VHF) in Tromsø, Norway. Observations by the Van Allen Probes satellite B showed the occurrence of rising tone lower band chorus waves, which cause the precipitation. We model the effect of high‐energy electron precipitation on ozone concentration using a detailed coupled ion and neutral chemistry model. Due to a 30 min, recorded electron precipitation event we find 14% odd oxygen depletion at 75 km altitude. The uncertainty of the higher‐energy electron fluxes leads to different possible energy deposition estimates during the pulsating aurora event. We find depletion of odd oxygen by several tens of percent, depending on the precipitation characteristics used in modeling. The effect is notably maximized at the sunset time following the occurrence of the precipitation.

Parametric instability induced byX‐mode wave heating at EISCAT

AbstractIn this paper, we present results of parametric instability induced byX‐mode wave heating observed by EISCAT (European Incoherent Scatter Scientific Association) radar at Tromsø, Norway. Three typicalX‐mode ionospheric heating experiments on 22 October 2013, 19 October 2012, and 21 February 2013 are investigated in details. Both parametric decay instability (PDI) and oscillating two‐stream instability are observed during theX‐mode heating period. We suggest that the full dispersion relationship of the Langmuir wave can be employed to analyze theX‐mode parametric instability excitation. A modified kinetic electron distribution is proposed and analyzed, which is able to satisfy the matching condition of parametric instability excitation. Parallel electric field component ofX‐mode heating wave can also exceed the parametric instability excitation threshold under certain conditions.

New capabilities of the upgraded EISCAT high‐power HF facility

AbstractThe high‐power HF (high‐frequency) facility (commonly known as Heating) near Tromsø, Norway, which is an essential part of the European Incoherent Scatter Scientific Association, has been upgraded in certain key areas in recent years. It is one of only four similar facilities in the world operating at present. An updated description of the facility is given, together with scientific motivation and some results. The main high‐power parts such as transmitters, feed‐system, and antennas remain essentially the same as built in the late 1970s. The improvements are in the areas of radio frequency waveform generation, computer control, and monitoring. In particular, fast stepping in frequency is now possible, an important aspect in examining features close to harmonics of the electron gyrofrequency. One antenna array has been modified to allow reception to implement an HF radar mode for mesospheric and magnetospheric probing. More realistic modeling of the antenna gain gives improved estimates of the total effective radiated power for both wanted and unwanted circular polarizations. Results are presented by using these new capabilities, but their full scientific potential has yet to be achieved.

Effects of magnetospheric lobe cell convection on dayside upper thermospheric winds at high latitudes

AbstractThis paper investigates a possible physical mechanism of the observed dayside high‐latitude upper thermospheric wind using numerical simulations from the coupled magnetosphere‐ionosphere‐thermosphere (CMIT) model. Results show that the CMIT model is capable of reproducing the unexpected afternoon equatorward winds in the upper thermosphere observed by the High altitude Interferometer WIND observation (HIWIND) balloon. Models that lack adequate coupling produce poleward winds. The modeling study suggests that ion drag driven by magnetospheric lobe cell convection is another possible mechanism for turning the climatologically expected dayside poleward winds to the observed equatorward direction. The simulation results are validated by HIWIND, European Incoherent Scatter, and Defense Meteorological Satellite Program. The results suggest a strong momentum coupling between high‐latitude ionospheric plasma circulation and thermospheric neutral winds in the summer hemisphere during positive IMF Bz periods, through the formation of magnetospheric lobe cell convection driven by persistent positive IMF By. The CMIT simulation adds important insight into the role of dayside coupling during intervals of otherwise quiet geomagnetic activity

Ionospheric electron number densities from CUTLASS dual‐frequency velocity measurements using artificial backscatter over EISCAT

AbstractUsing quasi‐simultaneous line‐of‐sight velocity measurements at multiple frequencies from the Hankasalmi Cooperative UK Twin Auroral Sounding System (CUTLASS) on the Super Dual Auroral Radar Network (SuperDARN), we calculate electron number densities using a derivation outlined in Gillies et al. (2010, 2012). Backscatter targets were generated using the European Incoherent Scatter (EISCAT) ionospheric modification facility at Tromsø, Norway. We use two methods on two case studies. The first approach is to use the dual‐frequency capability on CUTLASS and compare line‐of‐sight velocities between frequencies with a MHz or greater difference. The other method used the kHz frequency shifts automatically made by the SuperDARN radar during routine operations. Using ray tracing to obtain the approximate altitude of the backscatter, we demonstrate that for both methods, SuperDARN significantly overestimates Ne compared to those obtained from the EISCAT incoherent scatter radar over the same time period. The discrepancy between the Ne measurements of both radars may be largely due to SuperDARN sensitivity to backscatter produced by localized density irregularities which obscure the background levels.

IONONEST—A Bayesian approach to modeling the lower ionosphere

AbstractObtaining high‐resolution electron density height profiles for the D region of the ionosphere as a well‐sampled function of time is difficult for most methods of ionospheric measurement. Here we present a new method of using multifrequency riometry data for producing D region height profiles via inverse methods. To obtain these profiles, we use the nested sampling technique, implemented through our code, IONONEST. We demonstrate this approach using new data from the Kilpisjärvi Atmospheric Imaging Receiver Array (KAIRA) instrument and consider two electron density models. We compare the recovered height profiles from the KAIRA data with those from incoherent scatter radar using data from the European Incoherent Scatter Facility (EISCAT) instrument and find that there is good agreement between the two techniques, allowing for instrumental differences.

Validation of NeQuick TEC data ingestion technique against C/NOFS and EISCAT electron density measurements

AbstractThis paper investigates a technique to estimate near‐real‐time electron density structure of the ionosphere. Ground‐based GPS receiver total electron content (TEC) at low and high latitudes has been used to assist the NeQuick 2 model. First, we compute model input (effective ionization level) when the modeled slant TEC (sTEC) best fits the measured sTEC by single GPS receiver (reference station). Then we run the model at different locations nearby the reference station and produce the spatial distribution of the density profiles of the ionosphere in the East African region. We investigate the performance of the model, before and after data ingestion in estimating the topside ionosphere density profiles. This is carried out by extracting in situ density from the model at the corresponding location of C/NOFS (Communication/Navigation Outage Forecast System) satellite orbit and comparing the modeled ion density with the in situ ion density observed by Planar Langmuir Probe onboard C/NOFS. It is shown that the performance of the model after data ingestion reproduces the topside ionosphere better up to about 824 km away from the reference station than that before adaptation. Similarly, for high‐latitude region, NeQuick 2 adapted to sTEC obtained from high‐latitude (Tromsø in Norway) GPS receiver and the model used to reproduce parameters measured by European Incoherent Scatter Scientific Association (EISCAT) VHF radar. It is shown that the model after adaptation shows considerable improvement in estimating EISCAT measurements of electron density profile, F2 peak density, and height.

Three‐dimensional modeling of high‐latitude scintillation observations

AbstractGlobal Navigation Satellite System signals exhibit rapid fluctuations at high and low latitudes as a consequence of propagation through drifting ionospheric irregularities. We focus on the high‐latitude scintillation problem, taking advantage of a conjunction of European Incoherent Scatter Radar (EISCAT) observations and a GPS scintillation monitor viewing the same line of sight. Just after 20:00 UT on 17 October 2013, an auroral E region ionization enhancement occurred with associated phase scintillations. This investigation uses the scintillation observations to estimate the ionospheric electron density distribution beyond the spatial resolution of EISCAT (5–15 km along the line of sight in this case). Following the approach of Deshpande et al. (2014), signal propagation is modeled through a specified density distribution. A multiple phase screen propagation algorithm is applied to irregularities conforming to the description of Costa and Kelley (1977) and constrained to match the macroscopic conditions observed by EISCAT. A 50‐member ensemble of modeled outputs is approximately consistent with the observations according to the standard deviation of the phase (σp). The observations have σp = 0.23 rad, while the ensemble of modeled realizations has σp = 0.23 + 0.04–0.04. By comparison of the model output with the scintillation observations, we show that the density fluctuations cannot be a constant fraction of the mean density. The model indicates that E region density fluctuations whose standard deviation varies temporally between 5 and 25% of the mean (EISCAT‐observed) density are required to explain the observed phase scintillations.

An effective method for incoherent scattering radar's detecting ability evaluation

AbstractIonospheric incoherent scatter radar (ISR), which is used to detect ionospheric electrons and ions, generally, has megawatt class transmission power and hundred meter level antenna aperture. The crucial purpose of this detecting technology is to get ionospheric parameters by acquiring the autocorrelation function and power spectrum of the target ionospheric plasma echoes. Whereas the ISR's echoes are very weak because of the small radar cross section of its target, estimating detecting ability will be significantly instructive and meaningful for ISR system design. In this paper, we evaluate the detecting ability through signal‐to‐noise ratio (SNR). The soft‐target radar equation is deduced to be applicable to ISR, through which we use data from International Reference Ionosphere model to simulate signal‐to‐noise ratio (SNR) of echoes, and then comparing the measured SNR from European Incoherent Scatter Scientific Association and Advanced Modular Incoherent Scatter Radar with the simulation. The simulation results show good consistency with the measured SNR. For ISR, the topic of this paper is the first comparison between the calculated SNR and radar measurements; the detecting ability can be improved through increasing SNR. The effective method for ISR's detecting ability evaluation provides basis for design of radar system.