基于电离层反射的袖珍云闪(CID)三维定位研究

袖珍云闪是一类区别于常规闪电放电过程的特殊放电现象,能够同时产生极强的高频和低频辐射信号,其低频辐射信号在电离层与地面之间反射后能够在电场变化波形上形成电离层反射脉冲对.电离层反射信号与原信号的时间差包含着放电三维位置和电离层高度的信息,而借助于多站闪电探测网络的同步观测就能够反演这些信息.基于这一规律,本文发展了一种对袖珍云闪实现三维定位的新方法.这种方法不仅能够对大范围内的袖珍云闪实现准确的三维定位,同时还能够反演电离层的高度,是一种潜在的研究电离层相关性质的有效手段.通过将定位结果与雷达回波比较,证明这种方法具有较高的精度.利用这种方法,计算了5489例正极性袖珍云闪和1400例负极性袖珍云闪的放电高度,发现正极性袖珍云闪主要集中在7~14 km,而负极性袖珍云闪达到了15~18 km.负极性袖珍云闪的放电高度总体上与对流层顶高度相当,其数量相比于正极性袖珍云闪明显偏少,因此很可能产生于较为罕见的极旺盛的雷暴过程中.     

与日夜交替线移动相关的中尺度电离层扰动GPS网观测

本文选取由国际GPS服务中心(IGS)提供的北美中纬度地区GPS网TEC观测数据,通过多通道最大熵频谱分析方法研究了2005年（太阳活动低年）地磁活动平静期间日出和日落时由于日夜交替线的移动而激发的中尺度电离层扰动(MSTID),并统计分析其季节变化特性.结果表明：(1) 日出或日落期间,在中纬度地区经常观测到由日夜交替线移动激发的中尺度电离层扰动.扰动主要沿日夜交替线运动方向传播,平均持续时间约2～3 h;振幅在0.2～0.8 TECU之间,水平波长,水平相速度和周期分别为300±150 km,150±80 m/s和25±15 min;(2) 由日夜交替线移动激发的中尺度电离层扰动在春秋分出现率较少;在夏季,扰动在黄昏时出现率达最大值,在日出后少量出现;而冬季则日出后的扰动效应更为明显.分析表明,在中纬地区,这种扰动出现率随季节的变化与不同季节的日出日落时刻太阳EUV辐射通量变化过程的快慢,以及电离层中离子损失过程快慢有关.     

中低纬电离层F层峰高和厚度的变化特征分析

电离层F层参数对电离层空间天气研究与电波传播应用具有重要意义,以往工作主要针对电离层f_0F_2、TEC等参数.本文利用我国中纬地区的兰州、中低纬过渡区的昆明、低纬地区的海口三个观测站的电离层垂直探测数据,分析了电离层峰高h_mF_2、F层虚高h’F和定性表征的厚度h_mF_2—h’F的周日、季节、太阳活动变化特征.研究表明:(1)兰州h_mF_2在太阳活动高年和低年的数值接近,海口在太阳活动高年白天的h_mF_2比低年白天高20~30 km.(2)在海口和昆明,h_mF_2最大值多出现在中午时段,兰州站的最大值出现在夜间.(3)海口的h_mF_2在01-3LT期间出现很强的"午夜衰落"现象,此后迅速增大.(4)利用h_mF_2-h'F来表征电离层的厚度时,其季节和周日变化特征与常用的B_0存在相似之处,但未出现清晨与午后凹陷等现象.这些结果对于提高我国电离层变化特性的认识和模式化研究水平具有重要的科学意义.     

火星电离层电子浓度昼夜变化特性研究

本文利用MAVEN卫星Langmuir Probe and Waves（LPW）仪器的在轨电子浓度探测数据,研究了火星电离层电子浓度随太阳天顶角（Solar Zenith Angle,SZA）的变化以及昼夜电子浓度变化的异同.基于2014年至2017年期间MAVEN的电子浓度数据,我们发现：在200 km以下,白天电离层电子浓度主要受光化学平衡控制,由于白天光电离过程使得昼夜电子浓度差异较大,此时电离层昼夜传输能影响到的最大范围约在SZA=110°;而在200 km以上,白天电离层受输运过程控制,此时昼夜电子浓度差别较小,电离层昼夜间电子浓度变化较为缓慢.通过研究MAVEN在deep-dip（低高度深入探测）期间的电子浓度数据,我们发现火星磁场会显著影响夜间200 km以下的电子浓度分布结构,强磁场中闭合磁力线对电子沉降过程的阻碍作用使得在夜间该区域的电子浓度小于相邻区域.同时,通过比较deep-dip期间昼夜电子浓度随高度的变化,发现夜间电子沉降作用的影响可能主要集中在160 km以下.     

利用COSMIC掩星探测分析120°E经线附近电离层E层闪烁指数变化

利用气象、电离层和气候卫.星联合观测系统COSMIC掩星2007-2013年探测资料,分析了120°E经线附近电离层E层区域(70~140km)闪烁指数的季节、地方时和空间变化.结果表明强电离层闪烁主要集中在磁纬度±30°内,夏季达到最大,冬季其次,春季最小.闪烁峰值大小与太阳辐射有关,但北半球夏冬季闪烁峰值大于南半球观测结果,秋半球闪烁峰值大于春半球观测结果.地磁高纬地区较强闪烁现象出现在地方时傍晚之后,午夜前后达到最大值.地磁中纬和低纬区域日出后即出现较为明显的闪烁现象,一直持续至夜间甚至凌晨,分别约在中午和傍晚前达到最大值.磁赤道区闪烁现象通常始于地方时日出后,最大值发生在傍晚1800LT左右.电离层E区的闪烁峰值大都集中110km高度,但高纬地区的峰值高度略有降低.此外,太阳和地磁活动的增强一定程度上会抑制E层闪烁现象.相关研究结果有利于分析E层不规则结构及物理形成机制,同时为电离层区域闪烁模型的建立提供有用的信息.     

基于COSMIC资料分析电离层F层不规则体结构

根据电离层不规则体的产生会导致周围电子浓度发生起伏变化的原理,利用2007年COSMIC掩星系统的TEC数据,通过平滑滤波得到TEC的扰动值ΔTEC的变化,利用其研究F层不规则体的时空变化特征.统计结果表明:扰动较大的掩星事件主要发生在磁纬±20°之间和高纬地区,春季和秋季带状分布较为明显,不同经度地区较强扰动的掩星事件的分布也有不同特征;较强ΔTEC的掩星事件主要发生在地方时午夜前和午夜后两个时段,发生的高度主要在250~400km范围内.这些结果与已知的F层不规则体的时空分布特征较为一致,说明利用TEC的扰动量来分析电离层F层不规则体结构是可行的.     

单层模型对GNSS海啸电离层扰动探测的影响分析

本文全面分析了电离层单层模型高度以及投影函数对GNSS海啸电离层扰动探测的影响.利用GNSS计算的电离层扰动绝对空间分布位置随单层高度变化而变化,但对同颗卫星而言,其相对空间分布位置随单层高度变化较小.采用投影函数将倾斜方向的电离层扰动转化到垂直方向上,可以消除海啸传播方向垂直平面外的不一致性;由于电离层扰动存在水平梯度,不能消除海啸传播方向垂直平面上的不一致性.为了减弱单层模型参数对GNSS海啸电离层扰动探测的影响,在数据处理时,除了选择最大电子密度高度作为单层模型高度,还应当对每颗卫星单独进行分析.     

2002年10月Millstone Hill地区电离层暴时特性研究

磁暴期间电离层行为是电离层物理的重要研究内容.本文利用美国Millstone Hill非相干散射雷达以及GPS-TEC数据资料,分析了2002年10月13-17日和22-26日磁暴事件期间电离层电子密度响应在不同高度存在的差异.结果表明：正、负相暴电子密度的变化幅度随高度变化趋势相同,但不同高度上响应的时间、相位和幅度存在差异;负相暴最大变化幅度所在高度值同静时峰高值非常吻合,二者有很好的线性关系,但正相暴最大变化幅度所在高度值同静时峰高值无关,波动较大,意味着电离层正相暴响应更易到达各个高度上;特别地,22-26日负相暴在能量初次耦合进入电离层时高高度有极小的变化,其最大绝对变化量仅为低高度的4%.大气成分和风场的共同作用是两次负相暴发生的主要原因,但前者成分效应明显,后者动力学作用明显,有时甚至700 km以上电离层的贡献也是不可忽略的.     

利用地基GPS观测数据研究与地震有关的电离层异常

利用中国大陆GPS连续站观测数据, 根据电离层单层模型, 计算得到中国大陆上空电离层电子总含量TEC(Total Electron Content)值的时间序列。 选取2001—2008年发生在中国大陆地区的11个M_S≥6.0地震, 分析了这11个地震前后TEC值时间序列的变化特征。 分析结果显示, 地震活动期间距离震中700 km以外的GPS连续观测站上空TEC值的异常现象不明显, TEC值变化基本在0.5 TECU之内。 11个震例中有6个震例TEC值出现了负异常现象, 主要表现在震前1～5 d, 并且观测站距离震中越近, TEC值变化越明显, 少数震例在地震发生期间TEC值明显增加。 研究认为, 利用GPS连续观测数据研究与地震有关的电离层前兆是可能的。     

利用GPS网观测反射海啸波引发的电离层扰动

震中产生的海啸波传播到海岸或者遇到水下障碍时会发生反射,从而形成反射海啸波.本文利用稠密的日本GEONET网,首次在电离层扰动图中观测到2011年3月11日Tohoku地震引发的反射海啸波信号.观测到的电离层扰动与海平面的反射海啸波具有相似的波形、水平速度、方向、周期以及到达时间等传播特征,表明观测的电离层扰动为反射海啸波所引起,本文的观测结果表明反射海啸产生的大气内重力波也能向上传播到电离层与等离子体作用.     

Modeling the responses of the middle latitude ionosphere to solar flares

In this paper, we investigate the solar flare effects of the ionosphere at middle latitude with a one-dimensional ionosphere theoretical model. The measurements of solar irradiance from the SOHO/Solar EUV Monitor (SEM) and GOES satellites have been used to construct a simple time-dependent solar flare spectrum model, which serves as the irradiance spectrum during solar flares. The model calculations show that the ionospheric responses to solar flares are largely related to the solar zenith angle. During the daytime most of the relative increases in electron density occur at an altitude lower than 300 km, with a peak at about 115 km, whereas around sunrise and sunset the strongest ionospheric responses occur at much higher altitudes (e.g. 210 km for a summer flare). The ionospheric responses to flares in equinox and winter show an obvious asymmetry to local midday with a relative increase in total electron content (TEC) in the morning larger than that in the afternoon. The flare-induced TEC enhancement increases slowly around sunrise and reaches a peak at about 60 min after the flare onset.     

Detection of the wave-like structures in the F-region electron density: Two station measurements

Comparative studies of short-term ionospheric variability in the F region ionosphere during rapid sequence sounding campaign “HIRAC/SolarMax” (23–29 April 2001) are presented. The ionospheric short-term fluctuations have been studied in detail using measurements from vertical sounding at Ebro (40.8 °N, 0.5 ° E) and Průhonice (49.9 °N, 14.5 °E) in the period range from 15 minutes to 2 hours. The electron density measurements contain variations that indicate the possible presence of propagating gravity waves. Regular wave-like bursts were found during quiet days at both stations in electron concentration in F region, with an increase of the oscillation activity after sunrise and then during late afternoon, and at sunset and after sunset. Solar Terminator is assumed to be one of the sources of the regular wave bursts detected in the ionosphere during campaign HIRAC. As expected, substantial intensification in longer period gravity waves was found to occur during the disturbed period on April 28. Particular enhancement of the wave-like activity during disturbed day is discussed, being significant evidences of a change of the wave-like activity pattern at a height around 200 km.     

激发态氮分子N*2在电离层中的作用的模拟研究

激发态氮分子N*2在电离层F区中起着重要的作用,它使F区占主导地位的O+离子的损失率增大,从而使该区的电子浓度减少. 本文利用理论电离层数值模型,通过考虑与不考虑N*2的作用,对包括1990年6月、1997年5月、1998年5月以及2000年4月磁暴事件在内的时间区间的电离层响应情形进行模拟研究,并与实测结果进行对比. 结果表明,N*2对电离层电子浓度的影响在太阳活动高年非常明显,在太阳活动低年虽有些影响,但效果并不明显,其程度远不如高年. 在太阳活动高年,不仅是磁暴期间,在较宁静期间也必须考虑N*2的影响. 而且,在考虑N*2的作用时,还与激发态振动温度Tν有关,在采用Tν=Tn（其中Tn为背景中性大气的温度）的简化处理时,所得结果与观测结果的符合程度不如对Tν进行精确计算时所得的结果好. 模拟结果还表明,太阳活动高年,N*2作用的结果主要是使150km高度以上的F区电离层电子浓度减少,而对150km以下高度的电离层电子浓度则影响不大. 另外,N*2基本不影响F2层峰高hmF2的值.     

雷暴云准静电场对夜间电离层D区的影响

模型，计算了雷暴云电荷突然对地放电后QE场大小 在0～90km高度上的分布. 对200C的正电荷对地放电后的计算表明，在放电1ms后，在65～78km的区域内，QE场大于大气的雪崩电场，而0.5s后，该电场迅速衰减到很低的水平. 在电 离层高度上，由于电子的热化时标和电离时标极短，在QE场的作用下，夜间局部低电离层会 有比较大的响应. 对Boltzmann方程数值求解的结果表明，在某些高度上，电子分布函数有 明显的高能尾巴；在63～83km的高度上，电子平均能量为3eV＜ε＜6eV；计算的电子数 密度 的峰值扰动表明，在65～78km的高度上，电子的数密度增加，最大的电离峰值约在74km处， 大约增加了3个数量级，比电磁脉冲（EMP）的电离效果大得多.     

Configuration of the upper boundary of the ionosphere

Variations of the upper boundary of the ionosphere (UBI) are investigated based on three sources of information: (i) ionosonde-derived parameters: critical frequency foF2, propagation factor M3000F2, and sub-peak thickness of the bottomside electron density profile; (ii) total electron content (TEC) observations from signals of the Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites; (iii) model electron densities of the International Reference Ionosphere (IRI^*) extended towards the plasmasphere. The ionospheric slab thickness is calculated as ratio of TEC to the F2 layer peak electron density, NmF2, representing a measure of thickness of electron density profile in the bottomside and topside ionosphere eliminating the plasmaspheric slab thickness of GPS-TEC with the IRI^* code. The ratio of slab thickness to the real thickness in the topside ionosphere is deduced making use of a similar ratio in the bottomside ionosphere with a weight Rw. Model weight Rw is represented as a superposition of the base-functions of local time, geomagnetic latitude, solar and magnetic activity. The time-space variations of domain of convergence of the ionosphere and plasmasphere differ from an average value of UBI at ∼1000 km over the earth. Analysis for quiet monthly average conditions and during the storms (September 2002, October–November 2003, November 2004) has shown shrinking UBI altitude at daytime to 400 km. The upper ionosphere height is increased by night with an ‘ionospheric tail’ which expands from 1000 km to more than 2000 km over the earth under quiet and disturbed space weather. These effects are interposed on a trend of increasing UBI height with solar activity when both the critical frequency foF2 and the peak height hmF2 are growing during the solar cycle.     

Hour-to-hour variability of the ionosphere: An application of the classical multidimensional scaling method

The classical multidimensional scaling(MDS) method is introduced and applied in the study of the hour-to-hour ionospheric variability based on the ionospheric fo F2 observed at three ionosonde stations in East-Asia in 2002 and 2007. Results from the matrix eigen decompositions indicate that the annual part of the ionospheric variation is large in middle latitude and solar maximum period(2002) while low in the low latitude and solar minimum period(2007). The connectivity maps of the hour-to-hour ionospheric variability based on MDS method show some common diurnal features. The ionospheric connectivity between adjacent hours near noon hours and near midnight hours is high. The ionospheric connectivity between adjacent hours near sunrise hours and near sunset hours is poor, especially for the sunrise hours. Also there are latitudinal and solar activity dependences in this kind of connectivity. These results revealed from the ionospheric connectivity maps are useful physically and in practice for the ionospheric forecasting on the hour-to-hour scale.     

Joint observation results of Na layer and ionosphere in Wuhan during the Total Solar Eclipse

During the total solar eclipse on July 22, 2009 in Wuhan, the joint observation test of Na layer and ionosphere was conducted by using the daytime observation atmospheric lidar and the GPS ionosphere detector. The results show that the full width at half maximum (FWHM) of Na layer density slightly narrowed during the total solar eclipse and broadened after the eclipse, while the height of Na peak slightly decreased in the eclipse and increased after the eclipse. These implying that Na layer changes reflect the rapid process of sunrise and sunset. The ionosphere total electron content (TEC) and the sky background light noise also presented an obvious fluctuation characteristic with the changes of solar irradiation during the process of total solar eclipse. The difference lies in that the changes of FWHM of Na layer atoms are much slower than that of ionosphere, the reason for this might be that the Na layer, after being disturbed by the total solar eclipse, will generate a series of complicated photochemical reactions and momentum transport processes, and then recombine the Na atoms. The Na atoms to be detected by the lidar need a lag process, which rightly conforms to the theoretical simulated results.     

Ionospheric behavior over Europe during the solar eclipse of 3 October 2005

An annular eclipse occurred over Europe in the morning hours of 3 October 2005. The well-defined obscuration function of the solar radiation during the eclipse provided a good opportunity to study the ionospheric/thermospheric response to solar radiation changes. Since the peak electron density behavior of the ionospheric F2 layer follows the local balance of plasma production, loss and transport, the ionospheric plasma redistribution processes significantly affect the shape of the electron density profile. These processes are discussed here based on a comparison of vertical incidence sounding (VS) and vertical total electron content (TEC) data above-selected ionosonde stations in Europe. The equivalent slab thickness, derived with a time resolution of 10 min, provides relatively good information on the variation of the electron density profile during the eclipse. The computations reveal an increased width of the ionosphere around the maximum phase. As indicated by the available measurements over Spain, the photo production is significantly reduced during the event leading to a slower increase of the total ionization in comparison with the neighboring days. The supersonic motion of the Moon's cool shadow through the atmosphere may generate atmospheric gravity waves that propagate upward and are detectable as traveling ionospheric disturbances at ionospheric heights. High-frequency (HF) Doppler shift spectrograms were recorded during the eclipse showing a distinct disturbance along the eclipse path. Whereas the ionosonde measurements at the Ebro station/Spain in the vicinity of the eclipse path reveal the origin of the wave activity in the lower thermosphere below about 180 km altitude, the similar observations at Pruhonice/Czech Republic provide arguments to localize the origin of the abnormal waves in the middle atmosphere well below the ionospheric heights. Although ionosonde and HF Doppler measurements show enhanced wave activity, the TEC data analysis does not, which is an indication that the wave amplitudes are too small for detecting them via this interpolation method. The total ionization reduces up to about 30% during the event. A comparison with similar observations from the solar eclipse of 11 August 1999 revealed a quite different ionospheric behavior at different latitudes, a fact that needs further investigation.