Abstract
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.
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Acknowledgements
The Low Latitude Ionospheric Sensor Network (LISN) is funded by NSF Grant AGS-1933056 and is a project led by the University of Texas at Dallas in collaboration with the Geophysical Institute of Peru and other institutions that provide information in benefit of the space weather scientific community. We thank all organizations and persons that are supporting and operating VIPIR ionosondes and GPS receivers under the LISN project. Thanks to the following groups for making data publicly available: the UMass Lowell Center for Atmospheric Research; the NASA/Goddard’s Space Physics Data Facility; the International Service of Geomagnetic Indices; the GFZ German Research Center for Geosciences at Potsdam and the World Data Center (WDC) Kyoto, Japan. Thanks to Dr Victor H. Ríos for his helpful comments.
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The present study was supported by Universidad del Norte Santo Tomás de Aquino.
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González, G. Ionospheric irregularities during disturbed geomagnetic conditions over Argentinian EIA region. Acta Geod Geophys 57, 129–155 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40328-021-00370-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40328-021-00370-4