bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Coastal upwelling along the southwest coast of India – ENSO modulation
Authors: Muni Krishna K.
Published: June 2010

Abstract. An index of El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) in the Pacific during pre monsoon season is shown to account for a significant part of the variability of coastal Sea Surface Temperature (SST) anomalies measured a few months later within the wind driven southwest coast of India coastal upwelling region 7° N–14° N. This teleconnection is thought to result from an atmospheric bridge between the Pacific and north Indian Oceans, leading to warm (cold) ENSO events being associated with relaxation (intensification) of the Indian trade winds and of the wind-induced coastal upwelling. This ENSO related modulation of the wind-driven coastal upwelling appears to contribute to the connection observed at the basin-scale between ENSO and SST in the Arabian Sea. The ability to use this teleconnection to give warning of large changes in the southwest coast of India coastal upwelling few months in advance is successfully tested using data from 1998 and 1999 ENSO events.
Fog-induced variations in aerosol optical and physical properties over the Indo-Gangetic Basin and impact to aerosol radiative forcing
Authors: Das S. K. , Jayaraman A. , Misra A.
Published: June 2010

Abstract. A detailed study on the changes in aerosol physical and optical properties during fog events were made in December 2004 at Hissar (29.13° N, 75.70° E), a city located in the Indo-Gangetic basin. The visible aerosol optical depth was relatively low (0.3) during the initial days, which, however, increased (0.86) as the month progressed. The increasing aerosol amount, the decreasing surface temperature and a higher relative humidity condition were found favoring the formation of fog. The fog event is also found to alter the aerosol size distribution. An increase in the number concentration of the nucleation mode (radius<0.1 μm) particles, along with a decrease in the mode radius showed the formation of freshly nucleated aerosols. In the case of accumulation mode (0.1 μm<radius<1.0 μm) an increase in the mode radius was observed showing the hygroscopic and coagulation growth of particles. The observed aerosol optical depth spectra are model fitted to infer the aerosol components which are further used to compute the aerosol radiative forcing. The top of the atmosphere forcing is found to increase during foggy days due to large backscattering of radiation back to space. It is also shown that during foggy days, as the day progresses the RH value decreases, which reduces the forcing value while the increasing solar elevation increases the forcing value. Thus the fog event which prolongs longer into the daytime has a stronger effect on the diurnally averaged aerosol radiative forcing than those events which are confined only to the early morning hours.
Sensitivity of African easterly waves to boundary layer conditions
Authors: Lenouo A. , Mkankam Kamga F.
Published: June 2010

Abstract. A linearized version of the quasi-geostrophic model (QGM) with an explicit Ekman layer and observed static stability parameter and profile of the African easterly jet (AEJ), is used to study the instability properties of the environment of the West African wave disturbances. It is found that the growth rate, the propagation velocity and the structure of the African easterly waves (AEW) can be well simulated. Two different lower boundary conditions are applied. One assumes a lack of vertical gradient of perturbation stream function and the other assumes zero wind perturbation at the surface. The first case gives more realistic results since in the absence of horizontal diffusion, growth rate, phase speed and period have values of 0.5 day−1, 10.83 m s−1 and 3.1 day, respectively. The zero wind perturbation at the surface case leads to values of these parameters that are 50 percent lower. The analysis of the sensitivity to diffusion shows that the magnitude of the growth rate decreases with this parameter. Modelled total relative vorticity has its low level maximum around 900 hPa under no-slip, and 700 hPa under free slip condition.
The role of the observed tropical convection in the generation of frost events in the southern cone of South America
Authors: Müller G. V. , Ambrizzi T. , Ferraz S. E.
Published: June 2010

Abstract. Based on previous results obtained from observations and linear wave theory analysis, the hypothesis that large-scale patterns can generate extreme cold events in southeast South America through the propagation of remotely excited Rossby waves was already suggested. This work will confirm these findings and extend their analysis through a series of numerical experiments using a primitive equation model where waves are excited by a thermal forcing situated in positions chosen according to observed convection anomalies over the equatorial region. The basic state used for these experiments is a composite of austral winters with maximum and minimum frequency of occurrence of generalized frosts that can affect a large area known as the Wet Pampas located in the central and eastern part of Argentina. The results suggest that stationary Rossby waves may be one important mechanism linking anomalous tropical convection with the extreme cold events in the Wet Pampas. The combination of tropical convection and a specific basic state can generate the right environment to guide the Rossby waves trigged by the tropical forcing towards South America. Depending on the phase of the waves entering the South American continent, they can favour the advection of anomalous wind at low levels from the south carrying cold and dry air over the whole southern extreme of the continent, producing a generalized frost in the Wet Pampa region. On the other hand, when a basic state based on the composites of minimum frosts is used, an anomalous anticyclone over the southern part of the continent generates a circulation with a south-southeast wind which brings maritime air and therefore humidity over the Wet Pampas region, creating negative temperature anomalies only over the northeastern part of the region. Under these conditions even if frosts occur they would not be generalized, as observed for the other basic state with maximum frequency of occurrence of generalized frosts.
An interpretation for the bipolar electric field structures parallel to the magnetic field observed in the auroral ionosphere
Authors:   Jiankui Shi, Qureshi M. N. S. , Torkar K. , Dunlop M. ,   Zhenxing Liu, Zhang T. L.
Published: June 2010

Abstract. A physical model for the existence of bipolar structures in the electric field that are parallel to the magnetic field and observed in the auroral ionosphere, is established by deriving the "Sagdeev potential" from the two-fluid equations in a cylindrical coordinate system. The model shows that the bipolar electric field structure can develop not only from an ion acoustic wave, but also from an ion cyclotron wave, when the Mach number and the initial electric field satisfy certain conditions. Moreover, in the auroral region, it shows that the polarity of this electric field structure can be oriented either negative to positive or the reverse polarity, its amplitude can be varied from 35 to 330 mV/m, and its duration can be 7 ms to 23 ms. These results are in agreement with observation. Therefore, our two-fluid model can interpret the bipolar structures observed in the auroral ionosphere.
Space weather effects on radio propagation: study of the CEDAR, GEM and ISTP storm events
Authors: Blagoveshchensky D. V. , Kalishin A. S. , Sergeyeva M. A.
Published: June 2010

Abstract. The impact of 14 geomagnetic storms from a list of CEDAR, GEM and ISTP storms, that occurred during 1997–1999, on radio propagation conditions has been investigated. The propagation conditions were estimated through variations of the MOF and LOF (the maximum and lowest operation frequencies) on three high-latitude HF radio paths in north-west Russia. Geophysical data of Dst, Bz, AE as well as some riometer data from Sodankyla observatory, Finland, were used for the analysis. It was shown that the storm impact on the ionosphere and radio propagation for each storm has an individual character. Nevertheless, there are common patterns in variation of the propagation parameters for all storms. Thus, the frequency range Δ=MOF−LOF increases several hours before a storm, then it narrows sharply during the storm, and expands again several hours after the end of the storm. This regular behaviour should be useful for the HF radio propagation predictions and frequency management at high latitudes. On the trans-auroral radio path, the time interval when the signal is lost through a storm (tdes) depends on the local time. For the day-time storms an average value tdes is 6 h, but for night storms tdes is only 2 h. The ionization increase in the F2 layer before storm onset is 3.5 h during the day-time and 2.4 h at night. Mechanisms to explain the observed variations are discussed including some novel possibilities involving energy input through the cusp.
Generation of the lower-thermospheric vertical wind estimated with the EISCAT KST radar at high latitudes during periods of moderate geomagnetic disturbance
Authors: Oyama S. , Watkins B. J. , Maeda S. , Shinagawa H. , Nozawa S. , Ogawa Y. , Brekke A. , Lathuillere C. , Kofman W.
Published: June 2010

Abstract. Lower-thermospheric winds at high latitudes during moderately-disturbed geomagnetic conditions were studied using data obtained with the European Incoherent Scatter (EISCAT) Kiruna-Sodankylä-Tromsø (KST) ultrahigh frequency (UHF) radar system on 9–10 September 2004. The antenna-beam configuration was newly designed to minimize the estimated measurement error of the vertical neutral-wind speed in the lower thermosphere. This method was also available to estimate the meridional and zonal components. The vertical neutral-wind speed at 109 km, 114 km, and 120 km heights showed large upward motions in excess of 30 m s−1 in association with an ionospheric heating event. Large downward speeds in excess of −30 m s−1 were also observed before and after the heating event. The meridional neutral-wind speed suddenly changed its direction from equatorward to poleward when the heating event began, and then returned equatorward coinciding with a decrease in the heating event. The magnetometer data from northern Scandinavia suggested that the center of the heated region was located about 80 km equatorward of Tromsø. The pressure gradient caused the lower-thermospheric wind to accelerate obliquely upward over Tromsø in the poleward direction. Acceleration of the neutral wind flowing on a vertically tilted isobar produced vertical wind speeds larger by more than two orders of magnitude than previously predicted, but still an order of magnitude smaller than observed speeds.
Simulation of field-aligned H+ and He+ dynamics during late-stage plasmasphere refilling
Authors: Krall J. , Huba J. D. , Fedder J. A.
Published: June 2010

Abstract. The refilling of the plasmasphere for 3≤L≤4 following a model storm is simulated over long times (days) using the NRL ionosphere code SAMI2 (Sami2 is Another Model of the Ionosphere). Refilling is dependent on the supply of topside H+ and He+ ions with the result that H+ refilling rates decrease and He+ refilling rates generally increase with increasing F10.7 index. Both early- and late-stage refilling are affected by net ion flows from the warmer to the colder geomagnetic hemisphere. When these flows are strong, the ability of the "winter helium bulge" to increase He+ refilling rates is suppressed. When neutral winds are not included, refilling rates fall, typically by a factor of two. In most cases, late-stage He+ refilling is proportional to H+ refilling, with typical He+/H+ density ratios of 2% for solar minimum and 10% for solar maximum. For high values of F10.7, He+ refilling exhibits a strong diurnal variation so that the He+/H+ density ratio varies by as much as a factor of two during late-stage refilling. Finally if the plasmasphere is left undisturbed, the H+ density can refill for as long as five weeks at L=3 and ten weeks at L=4, with saturation densities nearly an order of magnitude greater than typical observed densities. This confirms that the plasmasphere at these L values rarely obtains saturation.
Sunward propagating Pc5 waves observed on the post-midnight magnetospheric flank
Authors: Eriksson P. T. I. , Blomberg L. G. , Schaefer S. , Glassmeier K.-H.
Published: June 2010

Abstract. The overall focus on the driver of toroidal Pc5 waves has been on processes located at or acting on the dayside magnetopause and dayside flanks of the magnetosphere. These processes can generate waves that propagate tailward in the magnetosphere. However, an increasing number of studies, both theoretical and experimental, have looked at waves propagating sunward and that are caused by processes in the magnetotail. Here we present an ultra low frequency (ULF) wave observed in the post-midnight/morning sector of the magnetosphere at L=16 RE. The wave has a toroidal mode polarization. We estimate the azimuthal wave number to m=3, consistent with a toroidal mode type pulsation. The positive sign indicates that the wave is propagating sunward and this is confirmed by looking at the Poynting flux of the wave. The frequency of the wave is not constant with time but shows a small increase in the beginning of the event up to over 2.0 mHz. Then the frequency decreases to 1.0 mHz. This decrease coincides with a drop in the total magnetic field strength and we speculate if this is related to an observed reversal of the sign of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) By-component. This event occurs during relatively quiet magnetospheric conditions with a solar wind speed of approximately 400 km/s. Thus this event is highly likely to be driven by a source in the magnetotail and the change in frequency is an excellent example that the frequency of an ULF wave may be modulated by changes of the plasma parameters on the resonant field line.
Dependence of the open-closed field line boundary in Saturn's ionosphere on both the IMF and solar wind dynamic pressure: comparison with the UV auroral oval observed by the HST
Authors: Belenkaya E. S. , Cowley S. W. H. , Badman S. V. , Blokhina M. S. , Kalegaev V.V.
Published: June 2010

Abstract. We model the open magnetic field region in Saturn's southern polar ionosphere during two compression regions observed by the Cassini spacecraft upstream of Saturn in January 2004, and compare these with the auroral ovals observed simultaneously in ultraviolet images obtained by the Hubble Space Telescope. The modelling employs the paraboloid model of Saturn's magnetospheric magnetic field, whose parameters are varied according to the observed values of both the solar wind dynamic pressure and the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) vector. It is shown that the open field area responds strongly to the IMF vector for both expanded and compressed magnetic models, corresponding to low and high dynamic pressure, respectively. It is also shown that the computed open field region agrees with the poleward boundary of the auroras as well as or better than those derived previously from a model in which only the variation of the IMF vector was taken into account. The results again support the hypothesis that the auroral oval at Saturn is associated with the open-closed field line boundary and hence with the solar wind interaction.
A physical mechanism producing suprathermal populations and initiating substorms in the Earth's magnetotail
Authors: Sarafopoulos D. V.
Published: June 2010

Abstract. We suggest a candidate physical mechanism, combining there dimensional structure and temporal development, which is potentially able to produce suprathermal populations and cross-tail current disruptions in the Earth's plasma sheet. At the core of the proposed process is the "akis" structure; in a thin current sheet (TCS) the stretched (tail-like) magnetic field lines locally terminate into a sharp tip around the tail midplane. At this sharp tip of the TCS, ions become non-adiabatic, while a percentage of electrons are accumulated and trapped: The strong and transient electrostatic electric fields established along the magnetic field lines produce suprathermal populations. In parallel, the tip structure is associated with field aligned and mutually attracted parallel filamentary currents which progressively become more intense and inevitably the structure collapses, and so does the local TCS. The mechanism is observationally based on elementary, almost autonomous and spatiotemporal entities that correspond each to a local thinning/dipolarization pair having duration of ~1 min. Energetic proton and electron populations do not occur simultaneously, and we infer that they are separately accelerated at local thinnings and dipolarizations, respectively. In one example energetic particles are accelerated without any dB/dt variation and before the substorm expansion phase onset. A particular effort is undertaken demonstrating that the proposed acceleration mechanism may explain the plasma sheet ratio Ti/Te≈7. All our inferences are checked by the highest resolution datasets obtained by the Geotail Energetic Particles and Ion Composition (EPIC) instrument. The energetic particles are used as the best diagnostics for the accelerating source. Near Earth (X≈10 RE) selected events support our basic concept. The proposed mechanism seems to reveal a fundamental building block of the substorm phenomenon and may be the basic process/structure, which is now missing, that might help explain the persistent, outstanding deficiencies in our physical description of magnetospheric substorms. The mechanism is tested, checked, and found consistent with substorm associated observations performed ~30 and 60 RE away from Earth.
Alfvén ship waves: high-m ULF pulsations in the magnetosphere generated by a moving plasma inhomogeneity
Authors: Mager P. N. , Klimushkin D. Yu.
Published: June 2010

Abstract. The generation of a high-m Alfvén wave by substorm injected energetic particles in the magnetosphere is studied. The wave is supposed to be emitted by an alternating current created by the drifting particle cloud or ring current inhomogeneity. It is shown that the wave appears in some azimuthal location simultaneously with the particle cloud arrival at the same spot. The value of the azimuthal wave number is determined as m~ω/ωd, where ω is the eigenfrequency of the standing Alfvén wave and ωd is the particle drift frequency. The wave propagates westward, in the direction of the proton drift. Under the reasonable assumption about the density of the energetic particles, the amplitude of the generated wave is close to the observed amplitudes of poloidal ULF pulsations.
Polar middle atmosphere temperature climatology from Rayleigh lidar measurements at ALOMAR (69° N)
Authors: Schöch A. , Baumgarten G. , Fiedler J.
Published: June 2010

Abstract. Rayleigh lidar temperature profiles have been derived in the polar middle atmosphere from 834 measurements with the ALOMAR Rayleigh/Mie/Raman lidar (69.3° N, 16.0° E) in the years 1997–2005. Since our instrument is able to operate under full daylight conditions, the unique data set presented here extends over the entire year and covers the altitude region 30 km–85 km in winter and 30 km–65 km in summer. Comparisons of our lidar data set to reference atmospheres and ECMWF analyses show agreement within a few Kelvin in summer but in winter higher temperatures below 55 km and lower temperatures above by as much as 25 K, due likely to superior resolution of stratospheric warming and associated mesospheric cooling events. We also present a temperature climatology for the entire lower and middle atmosphere at 69° N obtained from a combination of lidar measurements, falling sphere measurements and ECMWF analyses. Day to day temperature variability in the lidar data is found to be largest in winter and smallest in summer.
The wave surveyor technique for fast plasma wave detection in multi-spacecraft data
Authors: Vogt J. , Narita Y. , Constantinescu O. D.
Published: June 2010

Abstract. Multi-satellite missions like Cluster allow to study the full spatio-temporal variability of plasma processes in near-Earth space, and both the frequency and the wave vector dependence of dispersion relations can be reconstructed. Existing wave analysis methods include high-resolution beamformers like the wave telescope or k-filtering technique, and the phase differencing approach that combines the correlations measured at pairs of sensors of the spacecraft array. In this paper, we make use of the eigendecomposition of the cross spectral density matrix to construct a direct wave identification method that we choose to call the wave surveyor technique. The analysis scheme extracts only the dominant wave mode but is much faster to apply than existing techniques, hence it is expected to ease survey-type detection of waves in large data sets. The wave surveyor technique is demonstrated by means of synthetic data, and is also applied to Cluster magnetometer measurements.
Seasonal dependence of the "forecast parameter" based on the EIA characteristics for the prediction of Equatorial Spread F (ESF)
Authors: Thampi S. V. , Ravindran S. , Pant T. K. , Devasia C. V. , Sridharan R.
Published: June 2010

Abstract. In an earlier study, Thampi et al. (2006) have shown that the strength and asymmetry of Equatorial Ionization Anomaly (EIA), obtained well ahead of the onset time of Equatorial Spread F (ESF) have a definite role on the subsequent ESF activity, and a new "forecast parameter" has been identified for the prediction of ESF. This paper presents the observations of EIA strength and asymmetry from the Indian longitudes during the period from August 2005–March 2007. These observations are made using the line of sight Total Electron Content (TEC) measured by a ground-based beacon receiver located at Trivandrum (8.5° N, 77° E, 0.5° N dip lat) in India. It is seen that the seasonal variability of EIA strength and asymmetry are manifested in the latitudinal gradients obtained using the relative TEC measurements. As a consequence, the "forecast parameter" also displays a definite seasonal pattern. The seasonal variability of the EIA strength and asymmetry, and the "forecast parameter" are discussed in the present paper and a critical value for has been identified for each month/season. The likely "skill factor" of the new parameter is assessed using the data for a total of 122 days, and it is seen that when the estimated value of the "forecast parameter" exceeds the critical value, the ESF is seen to occur on more than 95% of cases.
Imaging radar observations of Farley Buneman waves during the JOULE II experiment
Authors: Hysell D. L. , Michhue G. , Larsen M. F. , Pfaff R. , Nicolls M. , Heinselman C. , Bahcivan H.
Published: June 2010

Abstract. Vector electric fields and associated E×B drifts measured by a sounding rocket in the auroral zone during the NASA JOULE II experiment in January 2007, are compared with coherent scatter spectra measured by a 30 MHz radar imager in a common volume. Radar imaging permits precise collocation of the spectra with the background electric field. The Doppler shifts and spectral widths appear to be governed by the cosine and sine of the convection flow angle, respectively, and also proportional to the presumptive ion acoustic speed. The neutral wind also contributes to the Doppler shifts. These findings are consistent with those from the JOULE I experiment and also with recent numerical simulations of Farley Buneman waves and instabilities carried out by Oppenheim et al. (2008). Simple linear analysis of the waves offers some insights into the spectral moments. A formula relating the spectral width to the flow angle, ion acoustic speed, and other ionospheric parameters is derived.
Seasonal variation of low-latitude E-region plasma irregularities studied using Gadanki radar and ionosonde
Authors: Phanikumar D. V. , Patra A. K. , Devasia C. V. , Yellaiah G.
Published: June 2010

Abstract. In this paper, we present seasonal variation of E region field-aligned irregularities (FAIs) observed using the Gadanki radar and compare them with the seasonal variation of Es observed from a nearby location SHAR. During daytime, FAIs occur maximum in summer and throughout the day, as compared to other seasons. During nighttime, FAIs occur equally in both summer and winter, and relatively less in equinoxes. Seasonal variations of Es (i.e. ftEs and fbEs) show that the daytime activity is maximum in summer and the nighttime activity is maximum in equinoxes. No relation is found between FAIs occurrence/SNR and ftEs/fbEs. FAIs occurrence, however, is found to be related well with (ftEs−fbEs). This aspect is discussed in the light of the present understanding of the mid-latitude Es-FAIs relationship. The seasonal variations of FAIs observed at Gadanki are compared in detail with those of Piura, which show a significant difference in the daytime observations. The observed difference has been discussed considering the factors governing the generation of FAIs.
Are there current-sheet-like structures in the Earth's magnetotail as in the solar wind – results and implications from high time resolution magnetic field measurements by Cluster
Authors: Li G. , Lee E. , Parks G.
Published: June 2010

Abstract. Recent studies of solar wind MHD turbulence show that current-sheet-like structures are common in the solar wind and they are a significant source of solar wind MHD turbulence intermittency. While numerical simulations have suggested that such structures can arise from non-linear interactions of MHD turbulence, a recent study by Borovsky (2006), upon analyzing one year worth of ACE data, suggests that these structures may represent the magnetic walls of flux tubes that separate solar wind plasma into distinct bundles and these flux tubes are relic structures originating from boundaries of supergranules on the surface of the Sun. In this work, we examine whether there are such structures in the Earth's magnetotail, an environment vastly different from the solar wind. We use high time resolution magnetic field data of the FGM instrument onboard Cluster C1 spacecraft. The orbits of Cluster traverse through both the solar wind and the Earth's magnetosheath and magnetotail. This makes its dataset ideal for studying differences between solar wind MHD turbulence and that inside the Earth's magnetosphere. For comparison, we also perform the same analysis when Cluster C1 is in the solar wind. Using a data analysis procedure first introduced in Li (2007, 2008), we find that current-sheet-like structures can be clearly identified in the solar wind. However, similar structures do not exist inside the Earth's magnetotail. This result can be naturally explained if these structures have a solar origin as proposed by Borovsky (2006). With such a scenario, current analysis of solar wind MHD turbulence needs to be improved to include the effects due to these curent-sheet-like structures.
Verification of a coupled atmosphere-ocean model using satellite observations over the Adriatic Sea
Authors: Djurdjevic V. , Rajkovic B.
Published: June 2010

Abstract. Verification of the EBU-POM regional atmosphere-ocean coupled model (RAOCM) was carried out using satellite observations of SST and surface winds over the Adriatic Sea. The atmospheric component has a horizontal resolution of 0.125 degree (approximately 10 km) and 32 vertical levels, while the ocean component has a horizontal resolution of approximately 4 km with 21 sigma vertical levels. Verification of the forecasted SST was performed for 15 forecasts during 2006, each of them seven days long. These forecasts coincide with the operating cycle of the Adriatic Regional Model (AREG), which provided the initial fields and boundary conditions for the ocean component of EBU-POM. Two sources of data were used for the initial and boundary conditions of the atmosphere: primary data were obtained from the European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasting (ECMWF), while data from National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) were used to test the sensitivity to boundary conditions. Forecast skill was expressed in terms of BIAS and root mean square error (RMSE). During most the of verification period, the model had a negative BIAS of approximately −0.3°, while RMSE varied between 1.1° and 1.2°. Interestingly, these errors did not increase over time, which means that the forecast skill did not decline during the integrations. The 10-m wind verification was conducted for one period of 17 days in February 2007, during a strong bora episode, for which satellite estimates of surface winds were available. During the same period, SST measurements were conducted twice a day, which enabled us to verify diurnal variations of SST simulated by the RAOCM model. Since ECMWF's deterministic forecasts do not cover such a long period, we decided to use the ECMWF analysis, i.e. we ran the model in hindcast mode. The winds simulated in this analysis were weaker than the satellite estimates, with a mean BIAS of −0.8 m/s.
Solar activity affects the occurrence of synoptic types over Europe
Authors: Huth R. , Kyselý J. , Bochníček J. , Hejda P.
Published: June 2010

Abstract. The solar effects on tropospheric circulation over Europe are investigated by counting the occurrence of Hess-Brezowsky synoptic types under various levels of solar activity. Solar minima are accompanied by a lower incidence of westerly types and a higher incidence of easterly and northerly types. The types with a northeast and northwest flow are most frequent under a moderate solar activity. There is a weak tendency towards the anticyclonic (cyclonic) types to be less (more) frequent under moderate solar activity. Our results are in accord with previous studies, indicating a strengthened zonal flow in solar maxima and changes in the modes of low-frequency circulation variability. The results point to the fact that the effects of solar activity are not linear.
Intensive radiosonde observations of gravity waves in the lower atmosphere over Yichang (111°18´ E, 30°42´ N), China
Authors:   Shao Dong Zhang,   Fan Yi,   Chun Ming Huang,   Ze Yu Chen
Published: June 2010

Abstract. The characteristics of dynamical and thermal structures and inertial gravity waves (GWs) in the troposphere and lower stratosphere (TLS) over Yichang (111°18´ E, 30°42´ N) were statistically studied by using the data from intensive radiosonde observations in August 2006 (summer month) and January 2007 (winter month) on an eight-times-daily basis. The background atmosphere structures observed in different months exhibit evident seasonal differences, and the zonal wind in winter has a prominent tropospheric jet with a maximum wind speed of about 60 ms−1 occurring at the height of 11.5 km. The statistical results of the inertial GWs in our two-month observations are generally consistent with previous observations in the mid-latitudes. In the summer month, the mean intrinsic frequency and vertical wavelength of the inertial GWs in the troposphere are still larger than those in the lower stratosphere with the absence of intensive tropospheric jets, suggesting that the Doppler shifting due to the tropospheric jets cannot completely account for the differences between the GWs in the troposphere and lower stratosphere. Compared with the observations in the summer month, some interesting seasonal characteristics of the GWs are revealed by the observations in the winter month: 1) more and stronger tropospheric GWs are observed in the winter month; 2) less and weaker GWs are observed in the lower stratosphere in winter; 3) the ratio of the mean GW kinetic energy density to potential energy density is smaller than 1 in winter, which contrasts to that in summer. Most of the seasonal differences can be explained by the intensive tropospheric jets in winter. In both the summer and winter months, the fitted spectral slopes of the vertical wave number spectra for GWs are generally smaller than the canonical spectral slope of −3. Correlation analyses suggest that the tropospheric jet induced wind shear is the dominant source for GWs in both the troposphere and lower stratosphere. Moreover, the tropospheric (lower stratospheric) GWs are found to be modulated by the quasi-7-day (10-day) PW, and the impacts of the diurnal tide on the GWs are relatively weak.
Three-dimensional spectrum of temperature fluctuations in stably stratified atmosphere
Authors: Gurvich A. S. , Chunchuzov I. P.
Published: June 2010

Abstract. A phenomenological model is proposed for a 3-D spectrum of temperature inhomogeneities generated by internal waves in the atmosphere. This model is a development of the theory based on the assumption that a field of Lagrangian displacements of fluid particles, induced by an ensemble of internal waves with randomly independent amplitudes and phases, is statistically stationary, homogeneous, axially symmetric in horizontal plane and Gaussian. For consistency of this model with measured spectra of temperature fluctuations in the stratosphere and mesosphere the additional assumption was introduced in to the model about the anisotropy of inhomogeneities to be dependent on their vertical sizes. The analytic expressions for both the 3-D and 1-D spectra are obtained. A model vertical wave number spectrum follows a −3 power law, whereas a horizontal spectrum contains two regions with a −3 slope, and the intermediate region with the slope between −1 and −3 depending on the rate of anisotropy decrease as a function of increasing sizes of the inhomogeneities. In the range of a few decades the model showed a good agreement with the results of measurements of the spectra in the troposphere, stratosphere and mesosphere.
Analysis of relationships between ultraviolet radiation (295–385 nm) and aerosols as well as shortwave radiation in North China Plain
Authors: Xia X. , Li Z. , Wang P. , Cribb M. , Chen H. , Zhao Y.
Published: June 2010

Abstract. The fraction of ultraviolet (UV) radiation to broadband shortwave (SW) radiation (FUV=UV/SW) and the influences of aerosol, precipitable water vapor content (PWV) and snow on FUV were examined using two year's worth of ground-based measurements of relevant variables in northern China. The annual mean FUV was 3.85%. Larger monthly values occurred in summer and minimum appeared in winter. Under cloudless condition, FUV decreased linearly with τ500 nm and the resulting regression indicated a reduction of about 26% in daily FUV per unit τ500 nm, implying that aerosol is an efficient agent in lowering the ground-level UV radiation, especially when the sun is high. Given that the annual mean τ500 nm is 0.82, aerosol induced reduction in surface UV radiation was from 24% to 74% when the solar zenith angle (θ) changed from 20° to 80°. One cm of PWV led to an increase of about 17% in daily FUV. One case study of snow influence on surface irradiance showed that UV and SW radiation increased simultaneously when the ground was covered with snow, but SW radiation increased much less than UV radiation. Accordingly, FUV increased by 20% for this case. Models were developed to describe the dependence of instantaneous UV radiation on aerosol optical depth, the cosine of the solar zenith angle (μ), and clearness index (Kt) under both clear and all-weather conditions.
Magnetic clouds seen at different locations in the heliosphere
Authors: Rodriguez L. , Zhukov A. N. , Dasso S. , Mandrini C. H. , Cremades H. , Cid C. , Cerrato Y. , Saiz E. , Aran A. , Menvielle M. , Poedts S. , Schmieder B.
Published: June 2010

Abstract. We analyze two magnetic clouds (MCs) observed in different points of the heliosphere. The main aim of the present study is to provide a link between the different aspects of this phenomenon, starting with information on the origins of the MCs at the Sun and following by the analysis of in-situ observations at 1 AU and at Ulysses. The candidate source regions were identified in SOHO/EIT and SOHO/MDI observations. They were correlated with H-α images that were obtained from ground-based observatories. Hints on the internal magnetic field configuration of the associated coronal mass ejections are obtained from LASCO C2 images. In interplanetary space, magnetic and plasma moments of the distribution function of plasma species (ACE/Ulysses) were analyzed together with information on the plasma composition, and the results were compared between both spacecraft in order to understand how these structures interact and evolve in their cruise from the Sun to 5 AU. Additionally, estimates of global magnitudes of magnetic fluxes and helicity were obtained from magnetic field models applied to the data in interplanetary space. We have found that these magnetic characteristics were well kept from their solar source, up to 5 AU where Ulysses provided valuable information which, together with that obtained from ACE, can help to reinforce the correct matching of solar events and their interplanetary counterparts.
Stratospheric semi-decadal oscillations in NCEP data
Authors: Mayr H. G. , Mengel J. G. , Huang F. T. , Talaat E. R. , Nash E. R. , Reddy C. A.
Published: June 2010

Abstract. An analysis of the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP)/National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) data is presented to provide a more complete description of the stratospheric 5-year semi-decadal (SD) oscillation (Mayr et al., 2007). The zonal-mean temperature and zonal wind data from the Atmospheric Research R-1 analysis are employed, covering the years from 1962 to 2002 in the altitude range from 10 to 30 km. For diagnostic purposes, the data are separated into the hemispherically symmetric and anti-symmetric components, and spectral analysis is applied to identify the signatures of the SD oscillations. Through the synthesis or filtering of spectral features, the SD modulations of the annual oscillation (AO) and quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) are delineated. In agreement with the earlier findings, the magnitude of the SD oscillation is more pronounced when the 30-month QBO dominates during the years from 1975 to 1995. This is consistent with results from a numerical model, which shows that such a QBO generates the SD oscillation through interaction with the 12-month AO. In the zonal winds, the SD oscillation in the NCEP data is confined to equatorial latitudes, where it modulates the symmetric AO and QBO by about 5 m/s below 30 km. In the temperature data, the effect is also seen around the equator, but it is much larger at polar latitudes where the SD oscillation produces variations as large as 2 K. Our data analysis indicates that the SD oscillation is mainly hemispherically symmetric, and it appears to originate at equatorial latitudes where most of the energy resides.
Determination of meteoroid physical properties from tristatic radar observations
Authors: Kero J. , Szasz C. , Pellinen-Wannberg A. , Wannberg G. , Westman A. , Meisel D. D.
Published: June 2010

Abstract. In this work we give a review of the meteor head echo observations carried out with the tristatic 930 MHz EISCAT UHF radar system during four 24 h runs between 2002 and 2005 and compare these with earlier observations. A total number of 410 tristatic meteors were observed. We describe a method to determine the position of a compact radar target in the common volume monitored by the three receivers and demonstrate its applicability for meteor studies. The inferred positions of the meteor targets have been utilized to estimate their velocities, decelerations and directions of arrival as well as their radar cross sections with unprecedented accuracy. The velocity distribution of the meteoroids is bimodal with peaks at 35–40 km/s and 55–60 km/s, and ranges from 19–70 km/s. The estimated masses are between 10−9–10−5.5 kg. There are very few detections below 30 km/s. The observations are clearly biased to high-velocity meteoroids, but not so biased against slow meteoroids as has been presumed from previous tristatic measurements. Finally, we discuss how the radial deceleration observed with a monostatic radar depends on the meteoroid velocity and the angle between the trajectory and the beam. The finite beamwidth leads to underestimated meteoroid masses if radial velocity and deceleration of meteoroids approaching the radar are used as estimates of the true quantities in a momentum equation of motion.
Developments in the use of EISCAT for interplanetary scintillation
Authors: Fallows R. A. , Breen A. R. , Dorrian G. D.
Published: June 2010

Abstract. The antennas of EISCAT have been used for interplanetary scintillation (IPS) studies of the solar wind for many years. The main science found from these studies is obtained through the cross-correlation of signals from antennas having the longest baseline, providing more accurate information on the different solar wind streams which may be present in the line of sight. The development of dual-frequency IPS observations between the 1.4 GHz receivers at the remote sites and Tromsø, has allowed the use of the EISCAT Svalbard Radar for IPS, increasing the available baselines to the extent that three solar wind streams can sometimes be identified in the cross-correlation functions. A weak-scattering model incorporating three possible solar wind streams and dual observing frequencies is discussed and some results presented. A recent study found that the current sampling bandwidth limits the sensitivity of IPS observations at EISCAT. Methods of increasing the sensitivity, and the results of trials, are discussed.
On initial enhancement of mesospheric dust associated plasma irregularities subsequent to radiowave heating
Authors: Scales W. A. , Chen C.
Published: June 2010

Abstract. Important observational manifestations of subvisible mesospheric dust are Polar Mesospheric Summer Echoes PMSE which are produced by scattering from electron irregularities produced by dust charging. It has been observed that the PMSE strength can be artificially modified by using a ground-based ionospheric heating facility to perturb the electron irregularity source region that is believed to produce PMSE. Recently it has become evident that significant diagnostic information may be available about the dust layer from the temporal behavior of the electron irregularities during the heating process which modifies the background electron temperature. Particularly interesting and important periods of the temporal behavior are during the turn-on and turn-off of the radiowave heating. Although a number of past theoretical and experimental investigations have considered the turn-off period, the objective here is to consider futher possibilities for diagnostic information available as well as the underlying physical processes. Approximate analytical models are developed and compared to a more accurate full computational model as a reference. Then from the temporal behavior of the electron irregularities during the turn-off of the radiowave heating, the analytical models are used to obtain possible diagnostic information for various charged dust and background plasma quantities.
New incoherent scatter diagnostic methods for the heated D-region ionosphere
Authors: Kero A. , Vierinen J. , Enell C.-F. , Virtanen I. , Turunen E.
Published: June 2010

Abstract. A new incoherent scatter (IS) diagnostic technique for the actively heated D-region ionosphere is presented. In this approach, an exponential autocorrelation function (ACF) was fitted to the data by using a Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) inversion and the Sodankylä Ion Chemistry model (SIC). The method was applied for a set of combined EISCAT heating and VHF radar experiments carried out in November 2006. A newly designed radar experiment, sippi, based on optimised phase codes and direct sampling of the transmitted and the received IS signal, was used to produce ACF estimates of the target plasma. Systematic features associated with the heating were found by comparing the mean ACFs corresponding to heated and unheated periods. However, the data analysis revealed reasonable electron temperature estimates at the altitudes of the expected maximum effect (70–75 km) only in three cases out of six, corresponding to the highest signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) conditions. In two of these cases, the electron temperature was increased by a factor of 5 to 7, which is in a good agreement with the theoretical heating modelling. In the case of the first presented data example, the model overestimates the effect. These are the first successful IS observations of the HF-induced maximum electron temperature enhancements in the D-region ionosphere.
Towards multi-purpose IS radar experiments
Authors: Virtanen I. I. , Lehtinen M. S. , Vierinen J.
Published: June 2010

Abstract. The EISCAT incoherent scatter radars routinely perform simultaneous measurements of E- and F-regions of the ionosphere. In addition several experiments exist for measuring pulse-to-pulse correlations from the D-region. However, the D-region experiments have quite limited range extents and the short lags suffer from F-region echoes, which are difficult to properly handle with standard decoding methods. In this paper it is demonstrated with real data how D-region experiments can be designed to produce continuous lag profiles extending above the F-region maximum. The large range coverage is attained for all lags shorter than the longest transmission pulse and it allows one to properly include the F-region echoes in the analysis. The large coverage is not needed for pulse-to-pulse lags because E- and F-regions do not have this long correlation times. The lag profiles with large range extent also provide a useful measurement of the upper parts of the ionosphere. The experiments utilise new kind of phase coding technique, which has estimation accuracy comparable to that of alternating codes though the code sequence is very short. No special decoding method is applied to the codes, because the lag profile inversion method automatically adapts to any kind of transmission codes provided transmission samples are available. The computing resources needed for real-time lag profile inversion with two different kinds of goals are also discussed here: 1) real-time monitoring of the results and 2) use of inverted lag profiles as a way to permanently store the data. While it was possible to accomplish real-time monitoring with a standard high-end desktop workstation, the higher resolution requirement for permanent data storage purposes is a much more critical task, requiring the use of larger-scale parallel processing.
Fast comparison of IS radar code sequences for lag profile inversion
Authors: Lehtinen M. S. , Virtanen I. I. , Vierinen J.
Published: June 2010

Abstract. A fast method for theoretically comparing the posteriori variances produced by different phase code sequences in incoherent scatter radar (ISR) experiments is introduced. Alternating codes of types 1 and 2 are known to be optimal for selected range resolutions, but the code sets are inconveniently long for many purposes like ground clutter estimation and in cases where coherent echoes from lower ionospheric layers are to be analyzed in addition to standard F-layer spectra. The method is used in practice for searching binary code quads that have estimation accuracy almost equal to that of much longer alternating code sets. Though the code sequences can consist of as few as four different transmission envelopes, the lag profile estimation variances are near to the theoretical minimum. Thus the short code sequence is equally good as a full cycle of alternating codes with the same pulse length and bit length. The short code groups cannot be directly decoded, but the decoding is done in connection with more computationally expensive lag profile inversion in data analysis. The actual code searches as well as the analysis and real data results from the found short code searches are explained in other papers sent to the same issue of this journal. We also discuss interesting subtle differences found between the different alternating codes by this method. We assume that thermal noise dominates the incoherent scatter signal.