scholarly journals Influence of the semidiurnal lunar tide on the equatorial plasma bubble zonal drifts over Brazil

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Igo Paulino ◽  
Ana Roberta Paulino ◽  
Amauri F. Medeiros ◽  
Cristiano M. Wrasse ◽  
Ricardo A. Buriti ◽  
...  

Abstract. Using OI6300 airglow images collected over São João do Cariri (7.4° S, 36.5° W) from 2000 to 2007, the equatorial plasma bubble (EPB) zonal drifts were calculated. A strong day-to-day variability was observed in the EPB zonal drifts due to the complexity in the dynamics of the nighttime thermosphere-ionosphere system near the equator. The present work investigated the contribution of the semidiurnal lunar tide M2 for the EPB zonal drifts. On average, the M2 contributes 5.6 % to the variability of the EPB zonal drifts, presenting an amplitude of 3.1 m/s. The results showed that the M2 amplitudes in the EPB zonal drifts were solar cycle and seasonal dependents. The amplitude of the M2 was stronger during the high solar activity reaching over 10 % of the EPB zonal drift average. Regarding the seasons, during the southern hemisphere summer, the M2 amplitude was twice larger (12 %) compared to the equinox ones. The seasonality agrees with other observations of the M2 in the ionospheric parameters such as vertical drifts and electron concentration, for instance. On the other hand, the very large M2 amplitudes found during the high solar activity must be further investigated.

2021 ◽  
Vol 39 (6) ◽  
pp. 1005-1012
Author(s):  
Igo Paulino ◽  
Ana Roberta Paulino ◽  
Amauri F. Medeiros ◽  
Cristiano M. Wrasse ◽  
Ricardo Arlen Buriti ◽  
...  

Abstract. Using OI6300 airglow images collected over São João do Cariri (7.4∘ S, 36.5∘ W) from 2000 to 2007, the equatorial plasma bubble (EPB) zonal drifts were calculated. A strong day-to-day variability was observed in the EPB zonal drifts, which is directly associated with the very complex dynamics of the nighttime thermosphere–ionosphere system near the Equator. The present work investigated the contribution of the semidiurnal lunar tide M2 for the EPB zonal drifts. The M2 presented an amplitude of 3.1 m s−1 in the EPB zonal drifts, which corresponds to 5.6 % of the average drifts. The results showed that the M2 amplitudes in the EPB zonal drifts were solar cycle and seasonally dependent. The amplitude of the M2 was stronger during the high solar activity, reaching over 10 % of the EPB zonal drift average. Regarding the seasons, during the Southern Hemisphere summer, the M2 amplitude was twice as large (12 %) compared to the equinox ones. The seasonality agrees with other observations of the M2 in the ionospheric parameters such as vertical drifts and electron concentration, for instance. On the other hand, the very large M2 amplitudes found during the high solar activity agree with previous observations of the lunar tide in the ionospheric E region.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nathalie Van der Putten ◽  
Florian Adolphi ◽  
Anette Mellström ◽  
Jesper Sjolte ◽  
Cyriel Verbruggen ◽  
...  

Abstract. It has been suggested from observations that the 11-year solar cycle influences regional tropospheric temperature and circulation relatively symmetrically around the equator. During periods of low (high) solar activity, the mid-latitude storm tracks are weakened (strengthened) and shifted towards the equator (poles). The mechanisms behind solar influence on climate are still debated and evidence from paleoclimate records often lacks precise dating required for assessing the global context. Well-dated proxy-based evidence for solar activity and natural climate change exist for the Northern Hemisphere, suggesting pattern similar to today for periods of grand solar minima. However, well-dated and high-resolution terrestrial climate reconstructions are lacking for the Southern Hemisphere. Here we present a unique precisely dated record for past changes in humidity and windiness from the Crozet archipelago at 46° S in the Southern Indian Ocean, a site strongly influenced by the westerly wind belt. We find an increased influence of the westerly winds shortly after 2800 cal year BP synchronous with a major decline in solar activity and significant changes in Northern Hemisphere mid-latitude wind and humidity records. Supported by a general circulation model run encompassing a grand solar minimum, we infer that periods of low solar activity are connected to an equator-ward shift of the mid-latitude westerly wind belts in both hemispheres comparable to the climate reaction to 11-year solar cycle variability inferred from reanalysis data. We conclude that solar forcing is connected to the bipolar climate response about 2800 years ago through synchronous changes in atmospheric circulation of similar sign in both hemispheres.


2013 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 30407-30452 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. Chehade ◽  
J. P. Burrows ◽  
M. Weber

Abstract. The study presents a~long term statistical trend analysis of total ozone datasets obtained from various satellites. A multi-variate linear regression was applied to annual mean zonal mean data using various natural and anthropogenic explanatory variables that represent dynamical and chemical processes which modify global ozone distributions in a changing climate. The study investigated the magnitude and zonal distribution of the different atmospheric chemical and dynamical factors to long-term total ozone changes. The regression model included the equivalent effective stratospheric chlorine (EESC), the 11 yr solar cycle, the Quasi-Biennial Oscillation (QBO), stratospheric aerosol loading describing the effects from major volcanic eruptions, the El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO), the Arctic and Antarctic Oscillation (AO/AAO), and accumulated eddy heat flux (EHF), the latter representing changes due to the Brewer–Dobson circulation. The total ozone column dataset used here comprises the SBUV/TOMS/OMI merged data (1979–2012) MOD V8.0, the SBUV/SBUV-2 merged V8.6 and the merged GOME/SCIAMACHY/GOME-2 (GSG) WFDOAS merged data (1995–2012). The trend analysis was performed for twenty six 5° wide latitude bands from 65° S to 65° N, the analysis explained most of the ozone variability. The results show that QBO dominates the ozone variability in the tropics (±7 DU) while at higher latitudes, the dynamical indices, AO/AAO and eddy heat flux, have substantial influence on total ozone variations by up to ±10 DU. Volcanic aerosols are only prominent during the eruption periods and these together with the ENSO signal are more evident in the Northern Hemisphere. The signature of the solar cycle is evident over all latitudes and contributes about 10 DU from solar maximum to solar minimum. EESC is found to be a main contributor to the long-term ozone decline and the trend changes after the end of 1990s. A positive significant trend in total ozone columns is found after 1997 (between 1 and 8.2 DU decade−1) which points at the slowing of ozone decline and the onset of ozone recovery. The EESC based trends are compared with the trends obtained from the statistical piecewise linear trend (PWLT or hockey stick) model with a turnaround in 1997 to examine the differences between both approaches. Similar and significant pre-turnaround trends are observed. On the other hand, our results do indicate that the positive PWLT turnaround trends are larger than indicated by the EESC trends, however, they agree within 2-sigma, thus demonstrating the success of the Montreal Protocol phasing out of the ozone depleting substances (ODS). A sensitivity study is carried out by comparing the regression results, using SBUV MOD 8.0 merged time series (1979–2012) and a merged dataset combining TOMS/SBUV (1979–June 1995) and GOME/SCIAMACHY/GOME-2 ("GSG") WFDOAS (Weighting Function DOAS) (July 1995–2012) as well as SBUV/SBUV-2 MOD 8.6 (1979–2012) in the regression analysis in order to investigate the uncertainty in the long-term trends due to different ozone datasets and data versions. Replacing the late SBUV merged data record with GSG data (unscaled and adjusted) leads to very similar results demonstrating the high consistency between satellite datasets. However, the comparison of the new SBUV merged Mod V8.6 with the V8.0 data showed somewhat smaller sensitivities with regard to several proxies, however, the EESC and PWLT trends are very similar. On the other hand, the new MOD 8.6 data in the PWLT model revealed a~reduced ODS related upward trend after 1997.


2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 49-54
Author(s):  
A.O. Olawepo ◽  
J.O. Adeniyi ◽  
A. Afolabi

We have used ionosonde data from Ouagadougou (Geo. Lat.12.40 N, Long. 358.50, Magnetic declination -5.1320) to study the morphology of M(3000)F2 and to investigate the performance of IRI-12 during 1991 and 1995, years of high and low solar activities respectively. Results show that M(3000)F2 exhibits diurnal and solar cycle characteristics with no distinctive monthly/seasonal features. The two peaks which characterize the diurnal M(3000)F2 during high solar activity (HSA) are reduced to just one (the sunrise peak) during low solar activity (LSA). The study also shows that IRI-12 gives good representations of the observed values of M(3000)F2 with high correlation coefficient, R ranging between 0.9 and 0.95 during LSA and 0.94 and 0.99 during HSA. The model gives its best performance in the months of April irrespective of the solar activity. It either under-estimates or over-estimates the observed values of M(3000)F2 during other months.


2020 ◽  
Vol 633 ◽  
pp. A83
Author(s):  
J. Becker Tjus ◽  
P. Desiati ◽  
N. Döpper ◽  
H. Fichtner ◽  
J. Kleimann ◽  
...  

The cosmic-ray Sun shadow, which is caused by high-energy charged cosmic rays being blocked and deflected by the Sun and its magnetic field, has been observed by various experiments, such as Argo-YBJ, Tibet, HAWC, and IceCube. Most notably, the shadow’s size and depth was recently shown to correlate with the 11-year solar cycle. The interpretation of such measurements, which help to bridge the gap between solar physics and high-energy particle astrophysics, requires a solid theoretical understanding of cosmic-ray propagation in the coronal magnetic field. It is the aim of this paper to establish theoretical predictions for the cosmic-ray Sun shadow in order to identify observables that can be used to study this link in more detail. To determine the cosmic-ray Sun shadow, we numerically compute trajectories of charged cosmic rays in the energy range of 5−316 TeV for five different mass numbers. We present and analyze the resulting shadow images for protons and iron, as well as for typically measured cosmic-ray compositions. We confirm the observationally established correlation between the magnitude of the shadowing effect and both the mean sunspot number and the polarity of the magnetic field during the solar cycle. We also show that during low solar activity, the Sun’s shadow behaves similarly to that of a dipole, for which we find a non-monotonous dependence on energy. In particular, the shadow can become significantly more pronounced than the geometrical disk expected for a totally unmagnetized Sun. For times of high solar activity, we instead predict the shadow to depend monotonously on energy and to be generally weaker than the geometrical shadow for all tested energies. These effects should become visible in energy-resolved measurements of the Sun shadow, and may in the future become an independent measure for the level of disorder in the solar magnetic field.


2010 ◽  
Vol 28 (6) ◽  
pp. 1263-1271 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. J. Wang ◽  
J. K. Shi ◽  
X. Wang ◽  
S. P. Shang ◽  
G. Zherebtsov ◽  
...  

Abstract. The temporal variations of the low latitude nighttime spread F (SF) observed by DPS-4 digisonde at low latitude Hainan station (geog. 19.5° N, 109.1° E, dip lat. 9.5° N) during the declining solar cycle 23 from March 2002 to February 2008 are studied. The spread F measured by the digisonde were classified into four types, i.e., frequency SF (FSF), range SF (RSF), mixed SF (MSF), and strong range SF (SSF). The statistical results show that MSF and SSF are the outstanding irregularities in Hainan, MSF mainly occurs during summer and low solar activity years, whereas SSF mainly occurs during equinoxes and high solar activity years. The SSF has a diurnal peak before midnight and usually appears during 20:00–02:00 LT, whereas MSF peaks nearly or after midnight and occurs during 22:00–06:00 LT. The time of maximum occurrence of SSF is later in summer than in equinoxes and this time delay can be caused by the later reversal time of the E×B drift in summer. The SunSpot Number (SSN) dependence of each type SF is different during different season. The FSF is independent of SSN during each season; RSF with SSN is positive relation during equinoxes and summer and is no relationship during the winter; MSF is significant dependence on SSN during the summer and winter, and does not relate to SSN during the equinoxes; SSF is clearly increasing with SSN during equinoxes and summer, while it is independent of SSN during the winter. The occurrence numbers of each type SF and total SF have the same trend, i.e., increasing as Kp increases from 0 to 1, and then decreasing as increasing Kp. The correlation with Kp is negative for RSF, MSF, SSF and total SF, but is vague for the FSF.


2019 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 85-87
Author(s):  
E.V. Maiewski ◽  
R.A. Kislov ◽  
H.V. Malova ◽  
O.V. Khabarova ◽  
V.Yu. Popov ◽  
...  

A stationary axisymmetric MHD model of the solar wind has been constructed, which allows us to study the spatial distribution of the magnetic field and plasma characteristics at radial distances from 20 to 400 radii of the Sun at almost all heliolatitudes. The model takes into account the changes in the magnetic field of the Sun during a quarter of the solar cycle, when the dominant dipole magnetic field is replaced by a quadrupole. Selfconsistent solutions for the magnetic and velocity fields, plasma concentration and current density of the solar wind depending on the phase of the solar cycle are obtained. It is shown that during the domination of the dipole magnetic component in the solar wind heliospheric current sheet (HCS) is located in the equatorial plane, which is a part of the system of radial and transverse currents, symmetrical in the northern and southern hemispheres. As the relative contribution of the quadrupole component to the total magnetic field increases, the shape of the HCS becomes conical; the angle of the cone gradually decreases, so that the current sheet moves entirely to one of the hemispheres. At the same time, at high latitudes of the opposite hemisphere, a second conical HCS arises, the angle of which increases. When the quadrupole field becomes dominant (at maximum solar activity), both HCS lie on conical surfaces inclined at an angle of 35 degrees to the equator. The model describes the transition from the fast solar wind at high latitudes to the slow solar wind at low latitudes: a relatively gentle transition in the period of low solar activity gives way to more drastic when high solar activity. The model also predicts an increase in the steepness of the profiles of the main characteristics of the solar wind with an increase in the radial distance from the Sun. Comparison of the obtained dependences with the available observational data is discussed.


2012 ◽  
Vol 30 (12) ◽  
pp. 1645-1654 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Borgohain ◽  
P. K. Bhuyan

Abstract. The effect of solar activity on the diurnal, seasonal and latitudinal variations of ion temperature Ti and its relationship with corresponding ion density Ni over the Indian low and equatorial topside ionosphere within 17.5° S to 22.5° N magnetic latitudes are being investigated, combining the data from SROSS C2 and ROCSAT 1 for the 9-year period from 1995 to 2003 during solar cycle 23. Ti varies between 800 K and 1100 K during nighttime and rises to peak values of ~1800 K in the post sunrise hours. Daytime Ti varies from 1000 K to 1500 K. The time of occurrence, magnitude and duration of the morning enhancement show distinct seasonal bias. For example, in the June solstice, Ti increases to ~1650 K at ~06:00 h and exhibits a daytime plateau till 17:00 LT. In the equinoxes, enhanced ion temperature is observed for a longer duration in the morning. There is also a latitudinal asymmetry in the ion temperature distribution. In the equinoxes, the daytime Ti is higher at off equatorial latitudes and lower over the Equator, while in the solstices, Ti exhibits a north–south gradient during daytime. Nighttime Ti is found to be higher over the Equator. Daytime ion temperature exhibits insignificant positive correlation with F10.7 cm solar flux, while nighttime ion temperature decreases with increase in solar flux. Daytime ion temperature and ion density are negatively correlated during solar minimum, while nighttime Ti does not exhibit any correlation. However, during high solar activity, significant positive correlation of Ti with Ni has been observed over the Equator, while at 10° S and 10° N temperature and density exhibit significant negative correlation. The neutral temperature Tn derived from the MSISE 90 model is found to be higher than measured Ti during nighttime, while daytime Ti is higher than model Tn.


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