Ionospheric irregularities can affect satellite communication and navigation by causing scintillations of radio signals. The scintillations are routinely measured using ground-based networks of receivers. This study presents observations of ionospheric irregularities by Langmuir probes on the Swarm satellites. They are compared with amplitude scintillation events recorded by the Global Positioning System-Scintillation Network and Decision Aid (GPS-SCINDA) receiver installed in Mbarara (Lat: $$0.6^{\circ }\hbox {S}$$ 0 . 6 ∘ S , Lon: $$30.8^{\circ }\hbox {E}$$ 30 . 8 ∘ E , Mag. lat: $$10.2^{\circ }\hbox {S}$$ 10 . 2 ∘ S ). The study covers the years from 2014 to 2018 when both data sets were available. It was found that the ground-based amplitude scintillations were enhanced when Swarm registered ionospheric irregularities for a large number of passes. The number of matching observations was greater for Swarm A and C which orbited at lower altitudes compared to Swarm B. However, some counterexamples, i.e., cases when in situ electron density fluctuations were not associated with any observed L-band amplitude scintillation and vice versa, were also found. Therefore, mismatches between observed irregularity structures and scintillations can occur just over a few minutes and within distances of a few tens of kilometers. The amplitude scintillation strength, characterized by the S4 index was estimated from the electron density data using the well-known phase screen model for weak scattering. The derived amplitude scintillation was on average lower for Swarm B than for A and C and less in accordance with the observed range. Irregularities at an altitude of about 450 km contribute strongly to scintillations in the L-band, while irregularities at about 510-km altitude contribute significantly less. We infer that in situ density fluctuations observed on passes over or near Mbarara may be used to indicate the risk that ionospheric radio wave scintillations occur at that site.

Abstract. During the night, in the F-region, equatorial ionospheric irregularities manifest as plasma depletions observed by satellites, and they may cause radio signals to fluctuate. In this study, the distribution characteristics of ionospheric F-region irregularities in the low latitudes were investigated using 16 Hz electron density observations made by a faceplate which is a component of the electric field instrument (EFI) onboard Swarm satellites of the European Space Agency (ESA). The study covers the period from October 2014 to October 2018 when the 16 Hz electron density data were available. For comparison, both the absolute (dNe) and relative (dNe∕Ne) density perturbations were used to quantify the level of ionospheric irregularities. The two methods generally reproduced the local-time (LT), seasonal and longitudinal distribution of equatorial ionospheric irregularities as shown in earlier studies, demonstrating the ability of Swarm 16 Hz electron density data. A difference between the two methods was observed based on the latitudinal distribution of ionospheric irregularities where (dNe) showed a symmetrical distribution about the magnetic equator, while dNe∕Ne showed a magnetic-equator-centred Gaussian distribution. High values of dNe and dNe∕Ne were observed in spatial bins with steep gradients of electron density from a longitudinal and seasonal perspective. The response of ionospheric irregularities to geomagnetic and solar activities was also investigated using Kp index and solar radio flux index (F10.7), respectively. The reliance of dNe∕Ne on solar and magnetic activity showed little distinction in the correlation between equatorial and off-equatorial latitudes, whereas dNe showed significant differences. With regard to seasonal and longitudinal distribution, high dNe and dNe∕Ne values were often found during quiet magnetic periods compared to magnetically disturbed periods. The dNe increased approximately linearly from low to moderate solar activity. Using the high-resolution faceplate data, we were able to identify ionospheric irregularities on the scale of only a few hundred of metres.

Abstract. Ionospheric irregularities are a common phenomenon in the low-latitude ionosphere. They can be seen in situ as depletions of plasma density, radar plasma plumes, or ionogram spread F by ionosondes. In this paper, we compared simultaneous observations of plasma plumes by the Jicamarca Unattended Long-term Investigations of the Ionosphere and Atmosphere (JULIA) radar, ionogram spread F generated from ionosonde observations installed at the Jicamarca Radio Observatory (JRO), and irregularities observed in situ by Swarm in order to determine whether Swarm in situ observations can be used as indicators of the presence of plasma plumes and spread F on the ground. The study covered the years from 2014 to 2018, as this was the period for which JULIA, Swarm, and ionosonde data sets were available. Overall, the results showed that Swarm's in situ density fluctuations on magnetic flux tubes passing over (or near) the JRO may be used as indicators of plasma plumes and spread F over (or near) the observatory. For Swarm and the ground-based observations, a classification procedure was conducted based on the presence or absence of ionospheric irregularities. There was a strong consensus between ground-based observations of ionospheric irregularities and Swarm's depth of disturbance of electron density for most passes. Cases, where ionospheric irregularities were observed on the ground with no apparent variation in the in situ electron density or vice versa, suggest that irregularities may either be localized horizontally or restricted to particular height intervals. The results also showed that the Swarm and ground-based observations of ionospheric irregularities had similar local time statistical trends with the highest occurrence obtained between 20:00 and 22:00 LT. Moreover, similar seasonal patterns of the occurrence of in situ and ground-based ionospheric irregularities were observed with the highest percentage occurrence at the December solstice and the equinoxes and low occurrence at the June solstice. The observed seasonal pattern was explained in terms of the pre-reversal enhancement (PRE) of the vertical plasma drift. Initial findings from this research indicate that fluctuations in the in situ density observed meridionally along magnetic field lines passing through the JRO can be used as an indication of the existence of well-developed plasma plumes.

<p>The ESA Swarm satellites have since year 2014 provided measurements of electron density at a frequency of 2 Hz and at times also 16 Hz corresponding to about 500 m along the satellite paths. Spectral indices, structure functions and scaling exponents of these 16 Hz density estimates were analyzed to study the F-region ionospheric irregularities at altitudes between about 425 and 510 km. The data were obtained during the period from October 2014 to October 2022.The Power Spectral Densities (PSDs) observed followed to a very good approximation a power law. The values of spectral indices <em>p</em> obtained showed a peak centered at around -2.5, located at the Equatorial Ionization Anomaly (EIA) belts. The largest contribution to the spectra came from in the South American-Antlantic-African longitudes and it was generally low in the Asian-Pacific region. The angle between the Swarm satellite orbital path and the magnetic field (∠(B, v)) was examined. The highest percentage of occurrence of ionospheric irregularities and the peak in spectral index was obtained for ∠(B, v) between 0° and about 40°. Over this range of angles PSD spectra steepened with increasing ∠(B, v) (<em>p</em> becomes increasingly negative), consistent with local anisotropic turbulence at scales of a few km. The probability distributions of density differences (structure functions) are non-Gaussian at all orders, similar to many other observations in space plasma. The scaling exponent function is non-linearly concave, which is usually taken as a sign of intermittency.</p>

Abstract. Ionospheric irregularities are a common phenomenon in the low latitude ionosphere. They can be seen in situ as depletions of plasma density, radar plasma plumes or ionogram spread F by ionosondes. In this paper, we compared simultaneous observations of plasma plumes by the Jicamarca unattended long term investigations of the ionosphere and atmosphere (JULIA) radar, ionogram spread F generated from ionosonde observations installed at the Jicamarca Radio Observatory (JRO), and irregularities observed in situ by Swarm, to determine whether Swarm in situ observations can be used as indicators of the presence of plasma plumes and spread-F on the ground. The study covered the years from 2014 to 2018 when all the data-sets were available. Overall, the results showed that Swarm's in situ density fluctuations on magnetic flux tubes passing over (or near) the JRO may be used as indicators of plasma plumes and spread-F over (or near) the observatory. For Swarm and the ground-based observations, a classification procedure was conducted based on the presence or absence of ionospheric irregularity structures. There was a strong consensus between ground-based observations of irregularity structures and Swarm's depth of disturbance of electron density for most passes. Cases, where irregularity structures were observed on the ground with no apparent variation in the in situ electron density or vice versa, suggest that irregularities may either be localized horizontally or restricted to particular height intervals. The results also showed that the Swarm and ground-based observations of ionospheric irregularities had similar local time statistical trends with the highest occurrence obtained between 20:00 and 22:00 LT. Also, similar seasonal patterns of occurrence of in situ and ground-based ionospheric irregularities were observed with the highest percentage occurrence in December Solstice and Equinoxes and low occurrence in June Solstice. The observed seasonal pattern was explained in terms of the pre-reversal enhancement (PRE) of the vertical plasma drift. Initial findings from this research indicate that fluctuations of in situ density observed meridionally along magnetic field lines passing through JRO can be used as an indication of the existence of well-developed plasma plumes.