First calculation of phase and coherence of longitudinally separated L‐band equatorial ionospheric scintillation. Issue 14 (22nd July 2013)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Shume, E. B.; Mannucci, A. J.
• Is Part Of: Geophysical research letters. Volume 40:Issue 14(2013:Jul.)
• Page Start: 3496
• Page End: 3501
• Publication Date: 2013-07-22
• Subjects: scintillation -- forecast -- plasma irregularities; Geophysics -- Periodicals; Planets -- Periodicals; Lunar geology -- Periodicals; 550
• DOI: 10.1002/grl.50702
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0094-8276

Abstract

Abstract : [1] We present the first calculation of phase and coherence of cross‐wavelet transform applied to longitudinally separated L‐band equatorial ionospheric scintillation observations received from Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO) satellites. The phase and coherence analysis were employed on two pairs of observations: (1) São Luís and Rio Branco and (2) Alta Floresta and Huancayo. For these case studies, in statistically significant and high‐coherence regions, scintillation observations over São Luís (Alta Floresta) lead that of Rio Branco (Huancayo) by ∼2 to 3 h with a 95 % frequency. If L‐band scintillation happens over São Luís (Alta Floresta), there is a 95 % likelihood that scintillation would happen to the west over Rio Branco (Huancayo) after ∼2 to 3 h, suggesting that a forecast can be made ahead of scintillation occurrences. The phase and coherence relationships between the longitudinally separated scintillation‐producing regions can be connected to the large‐scale wave structures which are reported to be related to the generation of equatorial spread F and scintillation. Key Points: Phase and coherence of longitudinally separated scintillation Scintillation forecast to the west of observation sites Phase and coherence relation of the large scale wave structures