Publication Date:
2021-05-12
Description:
The present work focuses on the analysis of the scaling features of electron density fluctuations in the
mid- and high-latitude topside ionosphere under different conditions of geomagnetic activity. The
aim is to understand whether it is possible to identify a proxy that may provide information on the
properties of electron density fluctuations and on the possible physical mechanisms at their origin, as
for instance, turbulence phenomena. So, we selected about 4 years (April 2014–February 2018) of 1 Hz
electron density measurements recorded on-board ESA Swarm A satellite. Using the Auroral Electrojet
(AE) index, we identified two different geomagnetic conditions: quiet (AE 〈 50 nT) and active (AE
〉 300 nT). For both datasets, we evaluated the first- and second-order scaling exponents and an
intermittency coefficient associated with the electron density fluctuations. Then, the joint probability
distribution between each of these quantities and the rate of change of electron density index was
also evaluated. We identified two families of plasma density fluctuations characterized by different
mean values of both the scaling exponents and the considered ionospheric index, suggesting that
different mechanisms (instabilities/turbulent processes) can be responsible for the observed scaling
features. Furthermore, a clear different localization of the two families in the magnetic latitude—
magnetic local time plane is found and its dependence on geomagnetic activity levels is analyzed.
These results may well have a bearing about the capability of recognizing the turbulent character of
irregularities using a typical ionospheric plasma irregularity index as a proxy
Description:
Published
Description:
6183
Description:
2A. Fisica dell'alta atmosfera
Description:
JCR Journal
Keywords:
Turbulence
;
High-latitude ionosphere
;
electron density fluctuations
;
Swarm constellation
;
01.02. Ionosphere
Repository Name:
Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV)
Type:
article
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