Characteristics of Longitudinal Discontinuity Over Nighttime Equatorial Ionization Anomaly Crests With Multiple Observations
Abstract Longitudinal discontinuity is observed over nighttime equatorial ionization anomaly (EIA) crests, characterized by a significant depletion between longitudes. Multiple observations, especially GOLD 135.6‐nm airglow images, are used to investigate the EIA discontinuity in details. Discontinuity events are found more likely to occur in one hemisphere, with a longitudinal width of tens of degrees and prolonged durations of several hours from 19 to 24 LT. The plasma depletion is most conspicuous at low altitudes, near or below the peak height. For the Atlantic sector, the EIA discontinuity is most prevalent between the March Equinox and the September Equinox, with an equinoctial asymmetry of higher occurrence rates around September Equinox. The climatological results indicate that field‐aligned trans‐hemispheric wind plays a predominant role in promoting the discontinuity, which transports the plasma from one hemisphere to the other hemisphere, resulting in potential localized depletion over the EIA crest.
Authors
- Xuguang Cai (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4632-1697)
- Xin Wan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1283-9474)
- Lei Cai (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0127-7303)
- Xingyan Song (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0001-3025-1957)
- Yongqiang Hao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0073-7198)
- Jiahao Zhong (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5130-8185)
- Jiawei Kuai (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9453-6441)
- Qiaoling Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6450-0384)
- Hao Han (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6674-1352)
- Zijing Tang
- Jiawen Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0005-5968-3373)
Institutions
- Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China (CN)
- Sun Yat-sen University (CN)
- University of Colorado Boulder (US)
- China University of Petroleum, Beijing (CN)
- Chengdu University of Information Technology (CN)
- University of Kara (TG)
- Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (US)
- Guizhou Provincial Meteorological Bureau (CN)
- Karamay Central Hospital (CN)
- University of Oulu (FI)
- Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Journal of Geophysical Research Space Physics
- Published
- 2024-11-01
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1029/2024ja033133
- Citations
- 5
- Primary Topic
- Ionosphere and magnetosphere dynamics
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 1.66
Funders
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- Chinese Academy of Sciences
- China Postdoctoral Science Foundation
- China Meteorological Administration
- Government of Jiangsu Province
- Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province
- National Space Organization
- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
- U.S. Air Force
- Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities
- Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation of Guangdong Province