Range spread-F Research Articles

Occurrence rate of equatorial Spread F and GPS ROTI in the ionospheric anomaly region over Vietnam

This paper presents the first observations of the occurrence rates of Spread F and GPS total electron content (TEC) index (ROTI) over Vietnam at the equatorial trough and the northern tropical crest of ionization anomaly in the Asian sector. The data have been examined for the monthly and nighttime variations in the occurrence of these two data at Bac Lieu (9.28°N, 105.73°E, dip: 1.73°N) and Phu Thuy (21.03°N, 105.95°E, dip: 14.49°N) during 2023. For Bac Lieu, the monthly variation in the occurrence of the range Spread F (RSF) has the maxima in the February, May, and September months, while the mixed Spread-F (MSF) and ROTI occurrences exhibit a semiannual asymmetry with peaks in March/April and October. For the nighttime variation, occurrence peaks at 1915-1930 LT for RSF, at about 1945-2100 LT for MSF, and between 2030-2330 LT for ROTI. Regarding the frequency Spread F (FSF) occurrence, the maximum values in the monthly variation are in April, and the nighttime variation peaks at about 2115-2315 LT. For Phu Thuy, the monthly variation of RSF, MSF, and ROTI occurrences also exhibit a semiannual asymmetry with peaks in March/April and October. These peak magnitudes are largest for ROTI, moderate for MSF, and smallest for RSF. The nighttime variation of RSF, MSF, and ROTI occurrence peaks show intense season changes from winter to autumn at pre-midnight, spring at post-midnight, and summer at post-midnight. The FSF occurrences are more significant in summer than in other seasons, mainly after midnight. The time order appearance of the Spread F types at Bac Lieu and Phu Thuy is first of RSF, then MSF, and finally FSF. This could reflect that the formation mechanisms of Spread F types are different and require further research. Our observations also showed that the post-midnight occurrence of Spread F is much larger than ROTI at Bac Lieu and Phu Thuy. The monthly variations in occurrence rates of Spread F and ROTI at Bac Lieu and Phu Thuy are similar, but these occurrence rates at Bac Lieu are usually larger than at Phu Thuy.

Automatic classification of spread‐F types in ionogram images using support vector machine and convolutional neural network

AbstractAn ionogram image serves as a valuable data for examining the ionospheric bottom side characteristics and variabilities. Spread-F is indicated or identified by plasma irregularity in the ionospheric region. Diffused echo in the ionogram images particularly pose challenges for efficient interpretation required in further applications. An automatic classification of spread-F is presented in this study. Ionogram images are automatically classified using preprocessing techniques to improve the classification performance. In this study, the classification is designed by two machine learning algorithms, including support vector machine (SVM) and convolutional neural network (CNN). The CNN model with preprocessing technique outperforms the SVM alternative based on 4,692 labelled ionogram images from the FMCW-type ionosonde at Chumphon station, Thailand. The model successfully classified clear, frequency spread-F (FSF), range spread-F (RSF), strong spread-F (SSF), and unidentified class with an accuracy of 98.0%, 85.1%, 90.7%, 66.7%, and 99.2%, respectively. The proposed automatic classification models achieved to classify classes of ionogram images. In addition, the image filtering and data preprocessing are useful with ionogram images for improving the model classification performance. Graphical Abstract

Correlation of Rate of TEC Index and Spread F over European Ionosondes

One of the most popular indices for monitoring the occurrence and intensity of ionospheric L-band irregularities is the Rate of TEC Index (ROTI). Due to low TEC in the mid-latitude ionosphere, ROTI has received significantly less attention than the equatorial and polar ionosphere. On the other hand, spread F is an established ionogram irregularity signature. The present study aims to correlate ROTI and spread F activity over European Digisonde stations for a low-to-moderate solar activity year (2011). With a focus on the latitude-dependent occurrence, the analysis demonstrates that range spread F (RSF) has been identified for all notable ROTI (>0.15 TECU/min) cases which also coincide with MSTID activity over the stations, suggesting induced gravity waves or polarization electric fields as the driving mechanism for enhanced ROTI activity. The diurnal and seasonal features are also presented. Maximum irregularity occurrence was observed around the 45° N from 18:00 to 05:00 UT with the seasonal maximum occurrence in January. Over lower mid-latitude Digisonde stations (latitude < 45° N), the diurnal and seasonal occurrence was observed from 19:00 to 04:30 UT in July.

Airglow observed by a full-band imager together with multi-instruments in Taiwan during nighttime of 1 November 2021

This study demonstrates an innovative approach of using a full-band chromatic all-sky imager, routinely operational for monitoring sky conditions at Lulin observatory (23.5°N, 120.9°E, 12.5° N magnetic latitude), Taiwan, to investigate equatorial plasma bubbles (EPBs). Distinct north–south aligned EPB depletions are identified by decomposing the color-scale images to respective red (centered at 630 nm) and green (520 nm) channels, where blue channel (470 nm) helps for background suppression. The intense EPBs, drifting eastwards at 60–100 m/s velocity, are also associated with reduced total electron content (TEC) values; increased ROTI (rate of TEC index); remarkable range spread-F; and prominent fluctuations in Doppler frequency shifts as well as FORMOSAT-7/COSMIC-2 electron density/S4 scintillation profiles. The results show that a full-band chromatic imager offers a cost-effective alternative to investigate the EPBs usually detected in OI 630.0 and 557.7 nm airglow emissions.

Investigation of the possible relationship between the occurrences of atmospheric gravity waves and equatorial Spread-F

Equatorial Spread F (ESF), is a manifestation linked to Atmospheric Gravity Waves (AGW). There have not been many studies to ascertain the extensive relationship between the occurrence of AGW and the occurrence of ESF. To evaluate the extent of their relationship, this study used data obtained with the aid of a satellite-borne Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) and ionograms obtained using a Digisonde Portable Sounder (DPS-4) located at Jicamarca (geog. Lat. 11.950 ᵒS, long. 76.867 ᵒW and geomagnetic Lat. 2.27 ᵒS, Long. 4.15 ᵒW; Dip 2 ᵒN) during the year 2016. The results also suggest that whenever AGW, under the control of tidal winds, propagates into F-region heights such that both AGW and tidal wind structures act together, it could have great potential at influencing plasma instability growth rate. The result further shows that when AGW has a long enough wavelength to reach the F-region, it tends to influence the factors responsible for the occurrence of the Mixed Spread-F (MSF) type of ESF. MSF is observed to be predominant in occurrence whenever AGW and ESF occur simultaneously compared to the other two types of ESF. The coefficient of correlation between AGW and MSF ranged between 0.1 and 0.5, while for Range Spread-F and Frequency Spread-F, it ranged between ± 0.2. These levels of correlations show that AGW does not directly trigger ESF. The range of the correlation coefficient between AGW and MSF however tends to support the suggestion that AGW occurrence is capable of influencing the factors responsible for a type of ESF occurrence rather than triggering ESF occurrence altogether.

Statistical Analysis of SF Occurrence in Middle and Low Latitudes Using Bayesian Network Automatic Identification

Spread-F (SF) is one of the most important types of the ionospheric irregularities as it causes ionospheric scintillation which can severely affect the performance and reliability of communication, navigation, and radar systems. The ionosonde provides the most effective and economical way to study the ionosphere and SF. However, the manual identification of SF from an ionogram is boring and hard work. To automatically identify SF on the ionogram and extend the study of SF into the middle and low latitudes of East Asia, this paper presents a statistical analysis of SF in this region, based on the naïve Bayesian classifier. The results showed that the accuracy of automatic identification reached up to 97% on both the validation datasets and test datasets composed of Mohe, I-Cheon, Jeju, Wuhan, and Sanya ionograms, suggesting that it is a promising way to automatically identify SF on ionograms. Based on the classification results, the statistical analysis shows that SF has a complicated morphology in the middle and low latitudes of East Asia. Specifically, there is a peak of occurrence of SF in the summer in I-Cheon, Jeju, Sanya, and Wuhan; however, the Mohe station has the highest occurrence rate of SF in December. The different seasonal variations of SF might be due to the different geographic local conditions, such as the inland-coastal differences and formation mechanism differences at these latitudes. Moreover, SF occurs more easily in the post-midnight hours when compared with the pre-midnight period in these stations, which is consistent with the previous results. Furthermore, this paper extracts the frequency SF (FSF) index and range SF (RSF) index to characterize the features of SF. The results shows that the most intense FSF/RSF appeared in the height range of 220–300 km/1–7 MHz in these stations, although there are different magnitude extensions on different season in these regions. In particular, strong spread-F (SSF) reached its maximum at the equinox at Sanya, confirming the frequent SSF occurrence at the equinox at the equator and low latitudes. These results would be helpful for understanding the characteristics of SF in East Asia.

Latitudinal Differences in Spread F Characteristics at Asian Longitude Sector during the Descending Phase of the 24th Solar Cycle

By using ionosonde data recorded at Chiang Mai (18.8° N, 98.9° E, magnetic latitude is 9.1° N), Puer (22.7° N, 101.1° E, magnetic latitude is 12.9° N), and Leshan (29.6° N, 103.7° E, magnetic latitude is 19.8° N), the statistical features of different types of spread F (SF) occurrence at low and middle latitudes were analyzed in this study. The results showed that the SF occurrence had obvious local time, latitude, and SF-type variations. The range spread F (RSF) occurrence in equinox months decreased with the increase in latitude, while the frequency spread F’s (FSF) occurrence rate in the summer months increased and the onset time of FSF became earlier when the latitude increased. The generation of SF depends on the SF type. A plasma bubble excited by the generalized Rayleigh–Taylor instability (GRT) at the equator is more likely to produce RSF, while nighttime medium-scale traveling ionospheric disturbances (MSTIDs) induced by Perkins instability at middle latitudes is the main reason for the generation of FSF.

Auto-detection of sporadic E and spread F events from the digital ionograms

To evaluate huge ionogram datasets and detect ionosphere variabilities, automatic identification of Sporadic E (Es) and Spread F (SF) events in digital ionograms is required. This work presents an auto-detection technique to identify the ionograms' Es and SF signatures. Es and SF events are detected automatically by de-noising the ionogram, segmentation, and quantifying the frequency and height points in each layer segmented part. The technique's performance is assessed using ionograms acquired by the Canadian Advanced Digital Ionosonde (CADI) at a low latitude station in Hyderabad, India, in 2015. With a detection efficiency of 96.71%, 89.71%, and 93.39%, the suggested technique successfully detected the Es, Range Spread F (RSF), and Strong Spread F (SSF) events from ionograms. To demonstrate the correlation between SSF and S4, the occurrence rate of SSF is compared to the amplitude scintillation (S4) rate of the Global Positioning System (GPS). The recommended technique is useful for launching ionospheric alert systems for high-frequency communications and GPS users.

Spread-F characteristics over Tucumán near the southern anomaly crest in South America during the descending phase of solar cycle 24

Ionospheric F-region irregularities can acutely affect navigation and communication systems. To develop predictive capabilities on their occurrence, it is key to understand their variabilities in a wide range of time scales. Previous studies at low latitudes in South America have been performed mostly in the eastern region. However, there are still few reports on the spread-F over Argentina owing to a lack of ionosonde data. This work presents the analysis of the spread-F (range spread-F and frequency spread-F) and plasma bubble occurrence characteristics near the southern crest of the Equatorial Ionization Anomaly in Argentina (Tucumán, 26.8°S, 65.2°W; magnetic latitude 15.5°S). We used ionosonde and Global Positioning System (GPS) data from November 2014 to December 2019 for different solar and geomagnetic conditions. The data show that spread-F and plasma bubble occurrence rates peak in local summer and are minimum in equinox and winter, respectively. There is a negative correlation between each type of spread-F and solar activity, whereas the opposite happens for plasma bubbles. Geomagnetic activity suppresses the generation of spread-F in equinox and summer and enhances it in winter. Plasma bubble occurrence is higher during disturbed days than during quiet days, but under medium solar activity, summer months register more plasma bubbles in quiet conditions. Range spread-F observed in winter under low solar activity is not associated with plasma bubbles originated at the magnetic equator. These results contribute to the knowledge necessary to improve the prediction of the spatial and temporal distribution of the night-time ionospheric irregularities.

Ionospheric irregularities during disturbed geomagnetic conditions over Argentinian EIA region

Ionospheric irregularities can severely degrade radio communication and navigation systems. Geomagnetic storms may affect the generation of these irregularities in a way that is not yet fully understood. To improve the forecasting of this phenomenon, we need to study the ionosphere in different regions of the world, and in particular in the equatorial ionization anomaly (EIA) where irregularities are usually more intense. This study analyses the effect of geomagnetic storms on ionospheric irregularities. We examined the occurrence of irregularities at the southern crest of the EIA in Argentina (Tucumán, 26.9°S, 294.6°E, dip latitude 15.5°S) during three intense and one moderate geomagnetic storm of different solar sources, between 2015 and 2018. We used data from an ionosonde, a Global Positioning System receiver and magnetometers. Ionogram spread-F, the F-layer bottom side (h'F), the critical frequency of the F2-layer (foF2), the rate of TEC index and the S4 scintillation index were analysed. The data show irregularities were present as range spread-F and moderate TEC fluctuations in one storm: 27 May 2017 (a coronal mass ejection CME-driven storm occurred on local winter), and were absent in the other events. We suggest that eastward disturbance dynamo electric field and over-shielding prompt penetration electric fields may create favourable conditions for developing these irregularities, whereas westward storm time electric fields might inhibit the growth of irregularities during the other storms considered. During co-rotating interaction region CIR-driven storms, the westward disturbance dynamo electric field may be associated with the non-occurrence of irregularities.

Ground and satellite-based observations of ionospheric plasma bubbles and blobs at 5.65° latitude in the Brazilian sector

This investigation uses simultaneous observations from all-sky imager system and an ionosonde collocated at Araguatins (5.65° S, 48.07° W and dip-latitude of 4.17° S), a near-equatorial region in Brazil. These simultaneous observations were used to investigate the occurrence of plasma bubbles and blobs in the field of the imaging system and their association with atypical range Spread-F signature in ionograms. Also, in-situ observation of plasma density from Swarm satellites were used to support the ground-based observations. Using a few cases, a methodology will be established to identify in the plasma blobs (atypical ESF) in the ionograms when there is the simultaneous observation of plasma bubbles and blobs in the field of view of the ionosonde. For this purpose, simultaneous sequence of OI 630.0 nm nightglow images and ionograms are presented for different case studies; 1. when there is the absence of a plasma bubble or blob, 2. when there is only the occurrence of plasma bubbles and 3. when there is the occurrence of plasma bubbles and blobs, in order to compare traces in the ionogram in all these case studies. With these we can cover all kinds of signatures in the ionograms corresponding to no irregularities, plasma bubbles only and plasma bubbles-blobs. These OI 630.0 nm nightglow and ionograms recorded simultaneously make it possible to establish a novel methodology to recognize in ionograms cases when there is the occurrence of Spread-F signature associated with bubble-blob in the FOV of the ionosonde.

Spread-F occurrence during geomagnetic storms near the southern crest of the EIA in Argentina

This work presents, for the first time, the analysis of the occurrence of ionospheric irregularities during geomagnetic storms at Tucumán, Argentina, a low latitude station in the Southern American longitudinal sector (26.9°S, 294.6°E; magnetic latitude 15.5°S) near the southern crest of the equatorial ionization anomaly (EIA). Three geomagnetic storms occurred on May 27, 2017 (a month of low occurrence rates of spread-F), October 12, 2016 (a month of transition from low to high occurrence rates of spread-F) and November 7, 2017 (a month of high occurrence rates of spread-F) are analyzed using Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers and ionosondes. The rate of change of total electron content (TEC) Index (ROTI), GPS Ionospheric L-band scintillation, the virtual height of the F-layer bottom side (h'F) and the critical frequency of the F2 layer (foF2) are considered. Furthermore, each ionogram is manually examined for the presence of spread-F signatures.The results show that, for the three events studied, geomagnetic activity creates favorable conditions for the initiation of ionospheric irregularities, manifested by ionogram spread-F and TEC fluctuation. Post-midnight irregularities may have occurred due to the presence of eastward disturbance dynamo electric fields (DDEF). For the May storm, an eastward over-shielding prompt penetration electric field, (PPEF) is also acting. A possibility is that the PPEF is added to the DDEF and produces the uplifting of the F region that helps trigger the irregularities. Finally, during October and November, strong GPS L band scintillation is observed associated with strong range spread-F (SSF), that is, irregularities extending from the bottom-side to the topside of the F region.

Statistical analysis of low-latitude spread F observed over Puer, China, during 2015\u20132016

Statistical analysis of spread F (SF), recorded at Puer (PUR, 22.7° N, 101.05° E, Dip Latitude 12.9° N) during 2015–2016, was carried out to reveal its characteristics at the northern equatorial ionization anomaly. In our study, SF was categorized into four types, frequency spread F (FSF), range spread F (RSF), mix spread F (MSF) and strong range spread F (SSF). The statistical results presented that FSF and MSF were dominant over Puer. Most types of SF appeared mostly in summer months, except the maximum occurrence of SSF in equinox months. Moreover, observations of SF events also showed that the solar activity and magnetic activity dependence of SF varied with seasons. Compared with observations at other region, the present results suggest that medium-scale traveling ionospheric disturbances (MSTIDs) may play a key role in generation of SF in low-latitude region.

Spread-F prediction model for the equatorial Chumphon station, Thailand

This work proposes a range spread-F (RSF) prediction model using the neural network (NN) over the equatorial Chumphon (CPN) region in Thailand. The RSF model is constructed by using five input spaces including the diurnal variations, seasonal variations, geographic latitude, solar flux index (F10.7), and magnetic index (Ap). The RSF NN model is trained with three years of RSF data during 2013 to 2015 from Chumphon (CPN) station (Latitude = 10.7°N, Longitude = 99.4°E) and the performance of the proposed RSF NN model is validated using the dataset of 2016. As a result, the RSF NN model achieves 98.3% accuracy of all correct predictions even with the limited available data. The results show that the proposed NN model yields a lower RSF probability than the actual observation by about 7.3%, but the overestimation of the proposed NN model is 2.5% in both the equinoxes and solstices. In addition, we discover that the IRI-2016 model mostly overestimates the RSF probability when compared with the actual observation for all seasons in 2016, particularly, in equinoctial months over Chumphon station.

Observation of the north-south asymmetry in the equatorial spread F intensity at the Brazilian longitude

This study presents an analysis of the observed north-south asymmetry of the range spread F (RSF) intensity at the low latitude region during an equinoctial month of different solar epochs (2002, 2015 and 2017). The ionospheric parameters were obtained during geomagnetic quiet days from four digisonde stations located along the Brazilian longitude, which include a dip equator station (Sao Luiz (SL: 2.33 S, 44.2 W)), conjugate stations (Campo Grande (CG: 20.5°S, 55°W) and Boa Vista (BV: 2.8°N, 60.7°W)) and another low latitude station (Cachoeira Paulista (CP: 22.7°S, 45°W)). The results highlight the competing effect of the post-sunset electric field strength and the trans-equatorial wind on the latitudinal distribution of the irregularity intensity at both hemispheres under varying background ionospheric condition. The RSF intensity was seen to reduce as the solar flux index decreased and the latitudinal peak shifted closer to the dip equator. This was dependent on the variation of the field line mapped irregularity spectrum and the density gradient. Likewise, the north-south asymmetry in the irregularity occurrence was seen to become more significant as a denser ionosphere was observed at the hemisphere with the equatorward meridional wind. This has further proven that the non-linear cascading of the plasma irregularity across the low latitude region is strongly influenced by the local electric field.

Longitudinal differences in the statistical characteristics of ionospheric spread-F occurrences at midlatitude in Eastern Asia

Spread-F is known as the electron density inhomogeneous structures in F layer of ionosphere and can usually be classified as frequency spread-F (FSF) and range spread-F (RSF). Few studies have reported on the statistical characteristics of spread-F occurrences at midlatitudes in Eastern Asia, particularly the comparison of spread-F occurrences between China and Japan. In this paper, we used spread-F data recorded by ten ionosondes located between 25°N and 45°N from 1997 to 2016, to investigate the longitudinal differences in the statistical characteristics of spread-F occurrence and the probable mechanism for its occurrence at midlatitudes in Eastern Asia. Variations in the spread-F occurrences with the solar and geomagnetic activities, season and local time are presented. The main conclusions are as follows: (a) the occurrence percentage of FSF is higher than that of RSF, of which the former is anti-correlated with the solar or geomagnetic activities; (b) higher FSF occurrence percentages mostly appeared during summer, while RSF occurred more frequently in winter near 45°N latitude such as Urumqi, Changchun and Wakkanai; (c) the maximum of the FSF occurrence percentages mostly appeared between 01:00 and 02:00 LT approximately, whereas that of RSF appeared near 00:00 LT; (d) the spread-F occurrence percentages in the coastal or marine areas are higher than those in the inland region between 35°N and 45°N latitudes; however, this phenomenon is not obvious at lower latitudes; and (e) both the mean occurrences of FSF and RSF reach the minimum around 31°N latitude. These above results are helpful for understanding variations in spread-F occurrence at midlatitudes in Eastern Asia.

Spread-F occurrences and relationships with foF2 and h\u2032F at low- and mid-latitudes in China

Ionospheric irregularities are an important phenomenon in scientific studies and applications of radio-wave propagation. Spread-F echoes in ionograms are a type of high-frequency band irregularities that include frequency spread-F (FSF), range spread-F (RSF), and mixed spread-F (MSF) events. In this study, we obtained spread-F data from four ionosondes at low- and mid-latitudes near the 120°E chain in China during the 23rd solar cycle. We used these data to investigate spread-F occurrence percentages and variations with local time, season, latitude, and solar activity. The four ionosondes were located at Haikou (HK) (20°N, 110.34°E), Guangzhou (GZ) (23.14°N, 113.36°E), Beijing (BJ) (40.11°N, 116.28°E), and Changchun (CC) (43.84°N, 125.28°E). We also present possible correlations between spread-Fs and other ionospheric parameters, such as the critical frequency of the F2-layer (foF2) and the virtual height of the bottom-side F-layer (h′F). In particular, we investigated the possible threshold of the foF2 affecting the FSF and the relationship between the h′F and the RSF. The main conclusions are as follows: (a) the FSF occurrence percentages were anti-correlated with solar activity at all four sites; meanwhile, RSF occurrence rates increased with the increase in solar activity at HK, but not at the other three sites; (b) FSF occurrence rates were larger at the mid-latitudes than expected, while FSFs occurred more often after midnight; (c) the highest FSF occurrence rates mostly appeared during the summer months, while RSFs occurred mostly in the equinoctial months of 2000–2002 at HK and GZ; (d) a lower foF2 was suitable for FSF events; nevertheless, h′F and RSF occurrences satisfied the parabolic relationship; (e) the foF2 thresholds for FSFs were 15, 14, 7.6, and 7.8 MHz at HK, GZ, BJ, and CC, respectively. The h′Fs occurring between 240 and 290 km were more favorable for RSF occurrences. These results are important for understanding ionospheric irregularity variations in eastern Asia and for improving space weather modeling and forecasting capabilities .

Occurrence statistics of Spread F at Ilorin

This study is the first of its kind aimed at the statistical study of the occurrence of Equatorial Spread-F (ESF) using ionosonde data obtained with the aid of Digisonde (DPS-4) during the year 2010 at Ilorin (Geo. Lat. 8.470N, Long. 4.680E, and Dip. Lat. 7.8670S): an equatorial station in the African sector. The study revealed that the ionosphere over Ilorin exhibit three types of equatorial spread-F i.e. frequency spread F (FSF), range spread F (RSF) and mixed frequency (MSF). ESF is observed to be a post-sunset and nighttime phenomenon; occurring within the hours of 2000LT and 0700LT with the range of hmF2 being between 230 and 405 km. ESF grows during the post-sunset periods and decays towards the sunrise hour. ESF is observed to be monthly/seasonal dependent. Occurrence of ESF is observed to be predominant during the equinox months. The results further show that RSF type is the most prevalent at this station.

Equinoctial spread-F occurrence at low latitudes in different longitude sectors under moderate and high solar activity

A comparative study aimed to investigate the equatorial and low-latitude spread-F occurrences for moderate solar activity (MSA) and high solar activity (HSA), was carried out considering concurrent observations made in some ionospheric stations, which identify three separate longitudinal sectors: Chiang Mai (CGM; 18.8° N, 98.9° E, mag. Lat. 13.2° N) and Chumphon (CPN; 10.7° N, 99.4° E, mag. Lat. 3.2° N), Thailand; Palmas (PAL; 10.2° S, 311.8° E, mag. Lat. 0.9° S) and São José dos Campos (SJC; 23.2° S, 314.1° E, mag. Lat. 14.0° S), Brazil; Tucumán (TUC; 26.9° S, 294.6° E, mag. Lat. 16.8° S), Argentina.Spread-F phenomena recorded during the equinoctial months of September and October 2010, March and April 2011, for MSA, March and April 2014, September and October 2014, for HSA, were classified in two different modes: range spread-F (RSF) and frequency spread-F (FSF). The satellite trace (ST) occurrence was also investigated as possible precursor of spread-F events. When comparing the results of equatorial (CPN and PAL) and low-latitude (CGM, SJC, and TUC) stations, some common features independently of the solar activity emerge: (1) a prevalence of RSF signatures is observed in the time interval 20:00–03:00 LT, while FSF occurrences prevail in the time interval 03:00–06:00 LT; (2) STs are confirmed to be a possible precursor of RSF occurrences.For HSA, at equatorial latitudes, spread-F occurrences in the Thai sector (CPN) are higher than those observed in the Brazilian sector (PAL).When comparing the results of low-latitude stations of CGM, SJC, and TUC some unusual aspects characterizing the morphology of spread-F occurrences emerge: (1) contrary to the Thai and Argentine sectors, in the Brazilian sector (SJC), RSF and FSF appearances in September, for HSA, are observed with relatively long persistence times between about 03:00-06:00 LT and 01:00-03:00 LT respectively, while balanced RSF and FSF occurrences with short persistence times are observed for months for MSA; (2) a prevalence of FSF at CGM during the first half of September for MSA, never observed in the Brazilian and Argentine areas.During years of LSA and MSA common morphological aspects are found at CGM and SJC, that is a predominance of FSF, with the lowest persistence times characterizing SJC. This suggests that the low-latitude behaviour of spread-F occurrences, under different levels of solar activity, at least in the longitude sectors here analysed, can be to a some extent generalized.

LSWS linked with the low‐latitude Es and its implications for the growth of the R‐T instability

AbstractA comprehensive investigation of spread F irregularities over the Indian sector has been carried out using VHF radar and ionosonde observations. Two different categories of spread F observations, one where the onset of the range spread F (RSF) was concurrent with the peak h′F (category 1) and another where the RSF onset happened ~90 min after the peak h′F time (category 2), are presented. RSF in category 2 was preceded by the presence of oblique echoes in ionograms, indicating the irregularity genesis westward of Sriharikota. The average peak h′F in category 1 was ~30 km higher than that in category 2 indicating the presence of standing large‐scale wave structure (LSWS). Occurrence of the blanketing Es during 19:30 to 20:30 Indian Standard Time in category 1 (category 2) was 0% (>50%). Model computation is also carried out to further substantiate the observational results. Model computation indicates that zonal variation of low‐latitude Es can generate zonal modulation in the F layer height rise. It is found that the modulation of the F layer height, linked with the low‐latitude Es, assists the equatorial spread F onset by modifying both the growth rate of the collisional Rayleigh‐Taylor (R‐T) instability and also its efficiency. A predominant presence of low‐latitude Es has been observed, but the increase in the F layer height and the R‐T instability growth in the evening hours will maximize with complete absence of low‐latitude Es. A new mechanism for the generation of LSWS and its implications on R‐T instability is discussed.