The Terrestrial Ionosphere

Lecture 1: Formation of Ionospheric Layers Lecture 2: Factors Affecting Ionospheric Layers

Ljiljana R. Cander Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, UK l.cander@rl.ac.uk

The Terrestrial Ionosphere

Lecture 1: Formation of Ionospheric Layers

Terrestrial ionosphere
The ionosphere is a layer of the upper atmosphere located between 50 km and 1000 km above the Earths surface where the total concentration of charged particles Ni (free electrons and ions) is Ni=106 m-3 at 50 km, Ni=109 m-3 at 1000 km with Nmax=1012 m-3 at height 200-400 km where there are about 1000 neutral particles per each charged particle. The presence of free electrons affects the propagation of radio signals in different ways depending on their frequencies.

Terrestrial ionosphere
It is ionized by electromagnetic (extreme ultraviolet EUV and X components) and corpuscular radiations from the Sun, and some non solar agents as the cosmic rays. As altitude decreases (1) intensity of solar radiations decreases (due to atmospheric absorption) and (2) atmospheric pressure and the number of molecules rapidly increases, Ni reaches the maximum value at an intermediate altitude (200-400 km) depending on the location, hour of day, season and phase of solar cycle.

Production and Loss of Electrons

Production of Electrons only occurs in the daylight hemisphere.

Loss of Electrons occurs continually, both day and night.

Production and Loss of Electrons

For ionospheric ionization, represented by the electron density Ne, the equation of continuity is dN/dt = p l, where p is the production rate of electrons, l is the loss rate of electrons and t is time dN/dt = q N2 N, where q is the electron production rate by solar photoionization, is the recombination coefficient between electron and positive ions and is the attachment coefficient by molecular species of interest. Under the assumptions of Sidney Chapmans theory q = qmexp {1-[(h-hm)/H] exp [- [(h-hm)/H] sec}, where is Suns zenith angle, h is altitude with hm at maximum and H is scale height.

qm

Terrestrial ionosphere
The ionosphere is composed of several overlapping layers corresponding to: (1) Changes in the chemical composition of the atmosphere: - Oxygen and Nitrogen in the lower altitudes; - Hydrogen, then Helium in the higher altitudes; (2) The depth of penetration of the solar radiations responsible for the ionization: - hard X-rays, - Lyman radiation, - soft X-rays or - extreme ultraviolet radiation, EUV.

Ionospheric layers
Four ionospheric layers are specifically identified: -The D, E and F1 layers are located at the lower heights from 50 km to about 210 km and normally disappear during the local night. Sporadic E may form at any time during the day or night. - The F2 layer occupies the higher heights from 210 km to about 1000 km. The F2 layer is present during the day. During the night the F1 and F2 layers combine into a single layer. For HF radio communications, the F region is the most important part of the ionosphere.

Day and night structure of the ionosphere

D Region
The D region of the ionosphere is approximately between 50-90 km. The region between 50-70 km is sometimes called the C region or lower D region. The D region electron densities (106-109 m-3 depending on height) are small and the radio wave absorption is quite significant. Daytime electron densities show diurnal, seasonal and solar activity dependence.

D Region
The ionizing agents of the D layer are still not clearly understood but solar La (1216 ) radiation seems to be important in ionizing NO (nitric oxide). Rocket and satellite observations indicate that solar cosmic rays and primarily solar protons of 1-100 MeV and possibly solar electrons of >10 keV contribute to the ionization of the D layer. NO+ is believed to be the major positive charge carrier.

D Region
Electrons, O2- and possibly other negative ions are negative charge carriers. The neutral component of the D region consists of mainly N2, O2, Ar, CO2, He and a highly variable quantity of O3 and H2O. Although rocket measurements during night-time indicate small electron densities at D region level, the existence of a night-time D layer is doubtful.

E Region
The ionosphere between 85-90 and 120-140 km altitudes is named the E region. The ionization in the E layer is mainly caused by X-rays in the range 8-104 . Along with electrons there are positive ions: O2+ and NO+. The E region electron densities (109-1010 m-3) are strongly solar controlled, being greater in the day-time than at night, in summer than in winter, in years of high solar activity.

E Region
The night-time E region is quite different from the day-time E and is considered by some authors to be an independent phenomenon. Both day-time and night-time E regions have been extensively investigated by rocket-borne Langmuir probes. Radar experiments are being used to study the electric field and the drift velocities of electrons in the E region.

Es Region
The sporadic E is considered to be a phenomenon independent of the normal E layer of the ionosphere. The sporadic E reflections are due to electron inhomogeneities (layers or patches) on a scale of tens or hundreds of km at 100-140 km height in the E region. It may be spread over a large area or be confined to a small region.

Es Region
Es characteristics: (1) random time of occurrence; (2) partial transparency (echoes from higher levels); (3) variations of penetration frequency with transmitter power. Sporadic E can have a comparable electron density to the F region. This implies that it can refract comparable frequencies to the F region.

Es Region
Signal partially transmitted by sporadic E and partially by the F layer. Any received signal may be weak or fade. Wave passes through sporadic E and is refracted by the F layer.

Sporadic E in the low and mid-latitudes occurs mostly during the day-time and early evening, and is more prevalent during the summer months. At high latitudes, sporadic E tends to form at night.

F1 Region
The F1 region of ionosphere is approximately between 140-250 km altitude. The main ionizing solar radiation for F1 is UV and hard X. Rocket experiments indicate a maximum electron density of 5X1011 m-3 at 160-180 km, while ground ionograms indicate 200 km. Prevalent ionic species are O2+ and NO+. The height varies with solar activity, season and geomagnetic activity.

F1 Region
The highest frequency that will be returned to earth when transmitted vertically under given atmospheric conditions is called the critical frequency:

fc = 9 N

foF1 and NmF1 show a dependence on solar zenith angle and sunspot number R similar to the E layer dependence:

foF1 (, R) = 4.25[(1 + 0.015R) cos ]1/4 (MHz), NmF1 (, R) = 2.25 x 105 [(1 + 0.015R) cos ]1/2 (cm-3)

F2 Region
The F2 region has a maximum electron density Nm F2 between 1011 and 8x 1012 m-3 and foF2 lies between 1 and 25 MHz. The maximum density height hmF2 is From 200 to 600 km. At sunspot minimum, the average hmF2 at middle latitudes is 225 km in the daytime and 300 km in the night-time in winter. In the summer and at maximum sunspot activity, these values are increased by 25 to 50 km.

F2 Region
The main ionizing solar radiation for F2 layer is UV. Prevalent ionic species are O+ , He+, H+. The Sun significantly affect the electron density of the F2 layer which shows a rapid increase after sunrise, but the maximum foF2 may occur on occasions after sunset (evening anomaly during solar minimum).

F2 Region
The F2 region diurnal, seasonal and sunspot effects are complicated and sometimes confusing. For instance, the foF2 values are systematically larger all over the world in November, December and January than in May, June and July. This effect is known as the December anomaly.

F2 Region
On the other hand, in high and middle latitudes the daytime foF2 and NmF2 values are two and four times larger, respectively, in winter than in summer. This is the Winter anomaly. The two anomalies are in phase on the Northern Hemisphere but separated by half a year on the Southern Hemisphere.

F2 region latitudinal variations

Day-time F region frequencies peak not at the magnetic equator, but 15 to 20 north and south of it. This is called the Equatorial anomaly. At night, frequencies reach a minimum around 60 latitude north and south of the geomagnetic equator. This is called the midlatitude trough.

Spread F
The inhomogeneities in the F region in plasma density give rise to the phenomenon called spread F. The size of the irregularities may vary from 20 to > 100 km. Spread F is observed mostly near the equator around 20o geom. lat. and at high latitudes, greater than 40o geom. lat. It is rarely observed in between. It occurs usually before midnight in the equatorial zone and after midnight in the high-latitude zone. The spread F at high latitudes is correlated with geomagnetic activity and at the equator it has no geomagnetic control.

Travelling Ionospheric Disturbances (TIDs)

The TID is an irregularity of the F region which has large horizontal dimensions compared to other irregularities.
It is a wave-like oscillation of the contours of constant electron density moving slowly downward with time. The disturbance usually travels in unchanged form over a horizontal distance 200 m s-1 to 10 k s-1. The entire disturbance may last for 1060 min. Observations in the equatorial region suggest that about two thirds of the TIDs have horizontal wavelengths of 10 to 100 km and periods of 10-30 min with a phase velocity of 100-200 m s-1. The TID occurrence and direction of travel have diurnal, seasonal and sunspot cycle dependencies.

Ionospheric electron density profiles

Within the ionosphere, the recombination of the ions and electrons proceeds slowly enough (due to low gas densities) so that some free electrons persist even throughout the night.

Plasmasphere
Above the ionosphere, at altitudes > 1000 km, there is a region surrounding the Earth which contains high density cold plasma. This region is called the plasmasphere. It extends up to 3 RE (Earth radius) , and sometimes as far as 7 RE. The plasma in the plasmasphere consists of up to 99% protons and electrons with small fractions of He+ and O+.

Plasmasphere
The plasma density slowly decreases with height until it abruptly drops by a factor of 100 at the boundary of the plasmasphere. This boundary is called the plasmapause. It has a thickness of a fraction of 3 RE. Typical plasma density changes at the plasmapause near 1200 local time are from 109 ions m-3 to 107 ions m-3.

Plasmasphere
The plasmasphere is not spherical but has a bulge in the region between 1500 and 2200 local time. This is called the plasmasphere bulge and may extend up to 2 to 3 RE farther than the average dimension of the region. The plasma density in the bulge varies as R-4. Solar-terrestrial studies show that the plasmasphere becomes smaller with increasing geomagnetic activity.

Ionospheric/Plasmaspheric Electron Density Profile

TEC TEC

foF2 foF2
The electron density along the propagation path has to be integrated to give Total Electron Content (TEC in TECU = 10 16 el / m2).