NH32C-04
Ionospheric waves associated with mid-latitude thunderstorms
Wednesday, 16 December 2015: 11:05
305 (Moscone South)
Erin H Lay1, Alexander Kendrick2, Xuan-Min Shao1 and Charles Salvatore Carrano3, (1)Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM, United States, (2)Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States, (3)Boston College, Institute for Scientific Research, Chestnut Hill, MA, United States
Abstract:
Ionospheric acoustic waves with periods of 2-4 minutes are regularly detected in GPS total electron content (TEC) measurements over thunderstorms. Here we present case studies that show that ionospheric acoustic waves are highly localized over thunderstorms, as opposed to ionospheric gravity waves (6-16 minute periods) that spread more widely away from thunderstorm activity. Both ionospheric acoustic and gravity waves increase in extent and magnitude as the thunderstorm activity increases. The localized nature of the ionospheric acoustic waves can provide insight into the generation and propagation of acoustic waves.
