Observations of small- to large-scale ionospheric irregularities associated with plasma bubbles with a transequatorial HF propagation experiment and spaced GPS receivers

摘要

The results from simultaneous observations of the nighttime transequatorial propagation (TEP) of HF radio waves between Australia and Japan and the GPS scintillation measurements in south China and Vietnam are presented in this paper. The results showed that there was good correspondence between the nighttime eastward traveling off–great circle propagation (OGCP) of broadcasting waves of Radio Australia from Shepparton, Australia, measured at Oarai, Japan, and the scintillations in GPS radio waves at Hainan, China. This shows that the nighttime eastward traveling OGCP in HF TEP is caused by a large-scale ionospheric structure associated with a plasma bubble. The zonal drift velocities of the large-scale ionospheric structure estimated by the change in the direction of arrival of the OGCP were similar to those of the small-scale irregularities associated with plasma bubbles measured by the GPS scintillation spaced-receiver technique. Our results show that the HF TEP measurement is quite useful for monitoring the plasma bubble occurrence over a wide area and for forecasting the arrival of the plasma bubble at places located to the east of it.