Studying the Day‐To‐Day Effect of F Region Meridional Neutral Wind on the Formation of Post‐Sunset Equatorial Ionospheric Irregularities

Abstract

AbstractThe unique properties of the equatorial ionosphere continue to be of great concern to users of space‐based technologies that rely on the ionosphere. Due to the lack of observational data, the influence of the F region meridional wind on the formation of the post‐sunset equatorial ionospheric irregularities has not yet been fully investigated. Therefore, in this work, the effect of dusk‐time F region meridional wind on the formation of post‐sunset equatorial ionospheric irregularities is studied. A pair of GNSS receivers from each of the three longitudinal sectors, such as Eastern Africa, Eastern South America, and Eastern Asia is considered to evaluate the rate of change of the TEC index (ROTI) in the years from 2010 to 2013. Observational meridional wind speed from the Gravity Field and Steady‐State Ocean Circulation Explorer satellite and electron density from the Communication/Navigation Outage Forecasting System are also used for the same longitudinal sectors. In the three longitudinal sectors, correlational analysis is carried out between the ROTI and the latitudinal gradient of the meridional wind speed. Based on observational data, we find that ionospheric irregularities are suppressed when the latitudinal gradient of the meridional wind is positive, while irregularities often occur when the latitudinal gradient is negative.