Unique Combinations of Differently Shaped Equatorial Plasma Bubbles Occurring Within a Small Longitude Range

Deepak Kumar Karan, Richard W. Eastes, Carlos R. Martinis, Robert E. Daniell, Stanley C. Solomon, William E. McClintock

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

8 Scopus citations

Abstract

On 12 October 2020 and 26 December 2021, NASA's Global-scale Observations of the Limb and Disk (GOLD) mission observed differently shaped equatorial plasma bubbles (EPBs) simultaneously within ∼10° longitude, near the subsatellite point and over the Atlantic, respectively which is unusual. On 12 October 2020, three EPBs with differing curvatures were observed in a ∼12° longitude sector. The westside EPB was curved toward the east, in a C-shape. The middle was straight. The eastside EPB was curved westward, in a reversed C-shape. In the second case, 26 December 2021, in a smaller longitude range of ∼6° adjacent C-shaped and reversed C-shaped EPBs were observed. EPBs' zonal drift velocities at the magnetic equator and both equatorial ionization anomaly crests were compared. These occurrences of oppositely shaped EPBs simultaneously in a narrow longitude may indicate that small-scale longitudinal variations in the E-region density, electric field, neutral wind variations, or a combination of them were present.

Original languageEnglish
Article numbere2023JA031625
JournalJournal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics
Volume128
Issue number11
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 2023
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • EPB morphology
  • NASA GOLD mission
  • OI 135.6 nm nightglow
  • equatorial plasma bubbles
  • nighttime ionosphere
  • plasma irregularities

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