Concentric Traveling Ionospheric Disturbances (CTIDs) Triggered by the 2022 Tonga Volcanic Eruption

Abstract

AbstractThis paper investigates concentric traveling ionospheric disturbances (CTIDs) associated with the Tonga volcanic eruption. Results show that: (a) two types of CTIDs (CTID #1 and CTID #2) were identified that traveled radially from Tonga at the speed of 610–880 m/s (acoustic‐mode) and 300–380 m/s (Lamb‐mode), respectively. CTID #1 reached 3,800 and 5,000 km away from the eruption location toward the directions of New Zealand and Australia, respectively. CTID #2 propagated persistently for ∼9 hr over New Zealand and Australia. (b) The CTID #2 wavefront changed after 08:35 UT over New Zealand, possibly due to a combination of factors including the anisotropic propagation of CTID #2, the regional geomagnetic declination, and westward‐moving Lamb waves. (c) Topside total electron content (TEC) enhancement with a magnitude over two TECu was observed from COSMIC‐2 measurements. The enhancement agrees with CTID #1 peak from nearby ground‐based TEC observations and could be related to the upward propagation of the F layer’s CTID #1 signatures.