INFLUENCE OF THE VONGFONG 2014 HURRICANE ON THE IONOSPHEREAND GEOMAGNETIC FIELD AS DETECTED BY SWARM SATELLITES: 2. GEOMAGNETIC DISTURBANCES

Abstract

Strong meteorological disturbances in the atmosphere, accompanied by the generation of waves and turbulence, can affect ionospheric plasma and geomagnetic field. To search for these effects, we have analyzed electromagnetic measurement data from low-orbit Swarm satellites during flights over the typhoon Vongfong 2014. We have found that there are “magnetic ripples” in the upper ionosphere that are transverse to the main geomagnetic field fluctuations of small amplitude (0.5–1.5 nT) with a predominant period of about 10 s caused by small-scale longitudinal currents. Presumably, these quasiperiodic fluctuations are produced by the satellite’s passage through the quasiperiodic ionospheric structure with a characteristic scale of ~70 km induced by the interaction of acoustic waves excited by the typhoon with the E-layer of the ionosphere. In one of the flights over the typhoon, a burst of high-frequency noise (~0.3 Hz) was observed, which can be associated with the excitation of the ionospheric Alfven resonator by atmospheric turbulence.

Keywords

• tropical cyclone
• ionosphere
• geomagnetic field
• acoustic waves
• swarm satellites
• longitudinal current