Physics
Scientific paper
Oct 2011
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2011georl..3819101z&link_type=abstract
Geophysical Research Letters, Volume 38, Issue 19, CiteID L19101
Physics
Ionosphere: Active Experiments, Ionosphere: Ionosphere/Atmosphere Interactions (0335), Ionosphere: Ionospheric Dynamics, Ionosphere: Midlatitude Ionosphere, Planetary Sciences: Solid Surface Planets: Magnetic Fields And Magnetism
Scientific paper
Total electron content (TEC) measurements made by a network of dense GPS receivers over the continental US are used to investigate ionospheric longitudinal differences. We find that the evening TEC is substantially higher on the US east coast than on the west, and vice versa for the morning TEC; the longitudinal difference displays a clear diurnal variation. Through an analysis of morning-evening variability in the east-west TEC difference, minimum variability is found to coincide with the longitudes of zero magnetic declination over the continental US. We suggest that these new findings of longitudinal differences in ionospheric TEC at midlatitudes are caused by the longitudinal difference in magnetic declination combined with the effects of thermospheric zonal winds which are subject to directional reversal over the course of a day. This study indicates that longitudinal variations in TEC measurements contain critical information on thermospheric zonal winds. The proposed declination-zonal wind mechanism may also provide a new insight into longitude/UT changes at midlatitudes on a global scale, as well as into some geospace disturbances.
Coster Anthea J.
Erickson Philip J.
Foster John C.
Zhang Shun-Rong
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