GPS-derived Total Electron Content (TEC) is an integrated quantity; hence it is difficult to relate the detection of ionospheric perturbations in TEC to a precise altitude. As TEC is weighted by the maximum ionospheric density, the corresponding altitude (hmF2) is, generally, assumed as the perturbation detection altitude. To investigate the validity of this assumption in detail, we conduct an accurate analysis of the GPS-TEC measured early ionospheric signatures related to the vertical surface displacement of the Mw 7.4 Sanriku-Oki earthquake (Sanriku-Oki Tohoku foreshock). Using 3D acoustic ray tracing model to describe the evolution of the propagating seismo-acoustic wave in space and time, we demonstrate how to infer the detection altitude of these early signatures in TEC. We determine that the signatures can be detected at altitudes up to ~130 km below the hmF2. This peculiar behaviour is attributed to the satellite line of sight (LOS) geometry and station location with respect to the source, which allows one to sound the co-seismic ionospheric signatures directly above the rupture area. We show that the early onset times correspond to crossing of the LOS with the acoustic wavefront at lower ionospheric altitudes. To support the proposed approach, we further reconstruct the seismo-acoustic induced ionospheric signatures for a moving satellite in the presence of a geomagnetic field. Both the 3D acoustic ray tracing model and the synthetic waveforms from the 3D coupled model substantiate the observed onset time of the ionospheric signatures. Moreover, our simple 3D acoustic ray tracing approach allows one to extend this analysis to azimuths different than that of the station-source line.

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Analysis of Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) and Global Positioning System (GPS) data reveals coseismic and early postseismic (4–88 days) surface displacements associated with the 25 April 2015, Mw 7.8 Gorkha, Nepal, earthquake. The pattern of early postseismic surface uplift and subsidence is found to be opposite to that of the coseismic motion. InSAR and GPS data were jointly inverted for coseismic and postseismic slip on the Main Himalayan Thrust (MHT). We consider a complex ramp‐flat‐ramp‐flat subsurface structure of the MHT with four connected fault planes dipping toward north from the Main Frontal Thrust (MFT). The inverted coseismic slip distribution follows an elliptical pattern, extending east‐southeastward from the hypocenter with maximum amplitude of 5.7 m above the upper edge of the midcrustal ramp. We infer early postseismic afterslip (4–16 days) of 0.2–0.47 m toward downdip of the coseismic slip asperity and another patch with 0.1–0.2 m slip toward east. The shallow portion of the MHT toward south is found to have remained unruptured during the earthquake, nor did it slip aseismically after the earthquake, suggesting possibility of large events in the future.

The amplitude asymmetry and initial polarity of seismic induced ionospheric perturbations around the epicenter are considered to be important in providing information about the rupture propagation and related vertical surface deformation. To comprehend this, we study ionospheric perturbations related to the 12 May 2015, Mw 7.3 Nepal earthquake. We model the coseismic slip associated with the event using the interferometric synthetic aperture radar derived surface deformation data. The ionospheric perturbations associated with the obtained surface deformation are explained in terms of rupture propagation, favorable geomagnetic field‐wave coupling, and satellite geometry effects. We discuss the effects of phase cancelation on the perturbation evolution for various receiver satellite line‐of‐sight configurations invoking an elementary version of satellite geometry factor. The present study thus elucidates further the role of nontectonic forcing mechanisms while identifying ground source pattern using the associated ionospheric perturbations.