Ionospheric effects of sudden stratospheric warming during moderate‐to‐high solar activity: Case study of January 2013

[1] A major sudden stratospheric warming (SSW) occurred in January 2013 during moderate-to-high solar activity conditions. Observations during the winter of 2012/2013 reveal strong ionospheric disturbances associated with this event. Anomalous variations in vertical ion drift measured at the geomagnetic equator at Jicamarca (12°S, 77°W) are observed for over 40 days. We report strong perturbations in the total electron content (TEC) that maximize in the crests of equatorial ionization anomaly, reach 100% of the background value, exhibit significant longitudinal and hemispheric asymmetry, and last for over 40 days. The magnitude of ionospheric anomalies in both vertical drifts and TEC is comparable to the anomalies observed during the record-strong SSW of January 2009 that coincided with the extreme solar minimum. This observation contrasts with results of numerical simulations that predict weaker ionospheric response to the tidal forcing during high solar activity.

[1]  A. Coster,et al.  Unexpected connections between the stratosphere and ionosphere , 2010 .

[2]  N. Pedatella,et al.  The influence of atmospheric tide and planetary wave variability during sudden stratosphere warmings on the low latitude ionosphere , 2013 .

[3]  Anthea J. Coster,et al.  Impact of sudden stratospheric warmings on equatorial ionization anomaly , 2010 .

[4]  K. Yumoto,et al.  Stratospheric warmings and the geomagnetic lunar tide: 1958–2007 , 2012 .

[5]  Jorge L. Chau,et al.  Quiet variability of equatorial E × B drifts during a sudden stratospheric warming event , 2009 .

[6]  Ludger Scherliess,et al.  Radar and satellite global equatorial F-region vertical drift model , 1999 .

[7]  Han L. Liu,et al.  Equatorial and Low Latitude Ionospheric Effects During Sudden Stratospheric Warming Events , 2011, 2011 XXXth URSI General Assembly and Scientific Symposium.

[8]  Michael C. Kelley,et al.  The earth's ionosphere , 1989 .

[9]  M. Yamamoto,et al.  Equatorial electrodynamics and neutral background in the Asian sector during the 2009 stratospheric sudden warming , 2011 .

[10]  T. Fang,et al.  Simulations of solar and lunar tidal variability in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere during sudden stratosphere warmings and their influence on the low-latitude ionosphere , 2012 .

[11]  T. Fuller‐Rowell,et al.  A whole atmosphere model simulation of the impact of a sudden stratospheric warming on thermosphere dynamics and electrodynamics , 2010 .

[12]  J. Forbes,et al.  Non‐migrating tides in the ionosphere‐thermosphere: In situ versus tropospheric sources , 2013 .

[13]  Tsutomu Nagatsuma,et al.  Lunar‐dependent equatorial ionospheric electrodynamic effects during sudden stratospheric warmings , 2010 .

[14]  L. Chang,et al.  Observational evidence of ionospheric migrating tide modification during the 2009 stratospheric sudden warming , 2012 .

[15]  Arthur D. Richmond,et al.  Attribution of ionospheric vertical plasma drift perturbations to large‐scale waves and the dependence on solar activity , 2013 .

[16]  H. Fujiwara,et al.  Response of migrating tides to the stratospheric sudden warming in 2009 and their effects on the ionosphere studied by a whole atmosphere-ionosphere model GAIA with COSMIC and TIMED/SABER observations , 2012 .

[17]  Jorge L. Chau,et al.  Enhanced lunar semidiurnal equatorial vertical plasma drifts during sudden stratospheric warmings , 2011 .

[18]  R. Roble,et al.  Sources of low-latitude ionospheric E × B drifts and their variability , 2012 .

[19]  H. Rishbeth The equatorial F-layer: progress and puzzles , 2000 .

[20]  E. Araujo‐Pradere,et al.  Sudden stratospheric warming event signatures in daytime ExB drift velocities in the Peruvian and Philippine longitude sectors for January 2003 and 2004 , 2010 .

[21]  J. Chau,et al.  Quiet time ionospheric variability over Arecibo during sudden stratospheric warming events , 2010 .

[22]  P. Mukhtarov,et al.  Stratospheric warmings: The atmosphere–ionosphere coupling paradigm , 2011 .

[23]  J. Forbes,et al.  Evidence for stratosphere sudden warming‐ionosphere coupling due to vertically propagating tides , 2010 .

[24]  Michael J. Schwartz,et al.  Aura Microwave Limb Sounder observations of dynamics and transport during the record‐breaking 2009 Arctic stratospheric major warming , 2009 .