New Observations of Large-Scale Waves Coupling With the Ionosphere Made by the GOLD Mission: Quasi-16-Day Wave Signatures in the F-Region OI 135.6-nm Nightglow During Sudden Stratospheric Warmings

The recently launched Global-scale Observations of the Limb and Disk (GOLD) Mission observed prominent quasi-16-day oscillations (Q16DOs) in the OI 135.6-nm nightglow from the equatorial ionization anomaly (EIA) region during 26 November 2018 to 25 January 2019. Meanwhile, the enhanced and concurrent quasi-16-day wave (Q16DW) activity was observed in the middle atmosphere by the Sounding of the Atmosphere using Broadband Emission Radiometry (SABER) instrument. This implies that the F-region ionosphere couples with the lower atmosphere through large-scale waves. A noteworthy phenomenon was that the Q16DOs displayed an asymmetric behavior between the northern and southern EIA crests. This asymmetry indicates that the ionospheric Q16DOs might be driven by the Q16DW-modulated tides, which not only modulated the E-region dynamo winds but also modulated the F-region field-aligned neutral winds via vertical penetration, producing the oscillations in plasmas densities.