SWARM Observations of the Motion of Low-latitude Plasma Depletions Coordinated with Ground-based TEC Measurements

Abstract:

During the early phase of the SWARM mission, the distance between the trajectories of all three satellites of the constellation was tens of km and the temporal separation was of order one minute. This unique geometry allows us to conduct multiple and almost simultaneous in-situ measurements through the same low-latitude plasma depletion to investigate their spatial coherence and the motion of structures embedded within the equatorial plasma bubbles. We have used the number density measured with the Electric Field Instrument (EFI) on-board the three satellites of the SWARM constellation during December 2013 and January 2014 and concurrent TEC values obtained by ground-based GPS receivers to fully diagnose the bubble characteristics at multiple scale sizes. We have applied correlation and cross-spectra analysis to the density values measured by the EFI probes to derive the longitudinal variability of plasma density structures and their velocity. Our results indicate a very strong variability of the plasma bubbles in longitude. More specifically, it shows that structures with scale sizes corresponding to 100 and 10 seconds are not in phase. TEC values measures on the ground indicated that TEC plasma depletions moved with a velocity of order 100 m/s and have a westward tilt of order 10°. This presentation will show results for several specific days of SWARM observations during passes in the American sector.