hide
Free keywords:
Invited
DDC:
550 - Earth sciences
Abstract:
The multi-year data base of magnetic field and ionospheric measurements from the CHAMP satellite contains an enormous potential to investigate the behaviour and the origin of currents in the F region. Very prominent phenomena are the post-sunset equatorial plasma irregularities (commonly known as “bubbles”, or “Equatorial Spread-F” (ESF)) which cause also signatures in the total magnetic field due to diamagnetic currents. The continuous magnetic observations, available at a 1Hz rate, have allowed for the compilation of a comprehensive climatology of the magnetic signatures due to ESF. It reveals a distinct longitudinal/seasonal (L/S) distribution, and the occurrence rate reduces considerably with decreasing solar flux. The (L/S) distribution of bubbles has been found to correlate very well, up to 90%, with the pre-reversal enhancement vertical plasma drift peak. This provides strong evidence for the close relation between these phenomena. Since the amplitude of the diamagnetic effect depends on the ambient magnetic field strength and on the background electron density, the global distribution shows differences to the ESF climatology based on plasma depletions. Although electron density readings are only available every 15s, CHAMP data suggest that the plasma irregularities are less structured at places where the ambient magnetic field is strong (e.g. East Asia, Indonesia). In these regions the bubble statistic based on magnetic signatures is systematically lower than that from plasma measurements.
