A LOFAR observation of ionospheric scintillation from two simultaneous travelling ionospheric disturbances

Richard A. Fallows; Biagio Forte; Ivan Astin; Tom Allbrook; Alex Arnold; Alan Wood; Gareth Dorrian; Maaijke Mevius; Hanna Rothkaehl; Barbara Matyjasiak; Andrzej Krankowski; James M. Anderson; Ashish Asgekar; I. Max Avruch; Mark Bentum; Mario M. Bisi; Harvey R. Butcher; Benedetta Ciardi; Bartosz Dabrowski; Sieds Damstra; Francesco De Gasperin; Sven Duscha; Jochen Eislöffel; Thomas M.O. Franzen; Michael A. Garrett; Jean Matthias Grießmeier; André W. Gunst; Matthias Hoeft; Jörg R. Hörandel; Marco Iacobelli; Huib T. Intema; Leon V.E. Koopmans; Peter Maat; Gottfried Mann; Anna Nelles; Harm Paas; Vishambhar N. Pandey; Wolfgang Reich; Antonia Rowlinson; Mark Ruiter; Dominik J. Schwarz; MacIej Serylak; Aleksander Shulevski; Oleg M. Smirnov; Marian Soida; Matthias Steinmetz; Satyendra Thoudam; M. Carmen Toribio; Arnold Van Ardenne; Ilse M. Van Bemmel; Matthijs H.D. Van Der Wiel; Michiel P. Van Haarlem; René C. Vermeulen; Christian Vocks; Ralph A.M.J. Wijers; Olaf Wucknitz; Philippe Zarka; Pietro Zucca

doi:10.1051/swsc/2020010

A LOFAR observation of ionospheric scintillation from two simultaneous travelling ionospheric disturbances

Richard A. Fallows
, Biagio Forte
, Ivan Astin
, Tom Allbrook
, Alex Arnold
, Alan Wood
, Gareth Dorrian
, Maaijke Mevius
, Hanna Rothkaehl
, Barbara Matyjasiak
, Andrzej Krankowski
, James M. Anderson
, Ashish Asgekar
, I. Max Avruch
, Mark Bentum
, Mario M. Bisi
, Harvey R. Butcher
, Benedetta Ciardi
, Bartosz Dabrowski
, Sieds Damstra

Francesco De Gasperin, Sven Duscha, Jochen Eislöffel, Thomas M.O. Franzen, Michael A. Garrett, Jean Matthias Grießmeier, André W. Gunst, Matthias Hoeft, Jörg R. Hörandel, Marco Iacobelli, Huib T. Intema, Leon V.E. Koopmans, Peter Maat, Gottfried Mann, Anna Nelles, Harm Paas, Vishambhar N. Pandey, Wolfgang Reich, Antonia Rowlinson, Mark Ruiter, Dominik J. Schwarz, MacIej Serylak, Aleksander Shulevski, Oleg M. Smirnov, Marian Soida, Matthias Steinmetz, Satyendra Thoudam, M. Carmen Toribio, Arnold Van Ardenne, Ilse M. Van Bemmel, Matthijs H.D. Van Der Wiel, Michiel P. Van Haarlem, René C. Vermeulen, Christian Vocks, Ralph A.M.J. Wijers, Olaf Wucknitz, Philippe Zarka, Pietro Zucca

Physics

Netherlands Institute of Radio Astronomy (ASTRON)
University of Bath
Bae Systems (Operation) Ltd
Nottingham Trent University
University of Birmingham
PAS Space Research Center
University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn
TU-Berlin
GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences
Shell Technology Center
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY BV
RAL Space
RSAA, Australian National University, Mt Stromlo Observatory
Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics
Universität Hamburg
Thüringer Landessternwarte
University of Manchester
Leiden University
LPC2E - Univ. d'Orléans/cnrs
Observatoire de Paris
Radboud University Nijmegen
NIKHEF
Vrije Universiteit Brussel
University of Groningen
Leibniz-Institut für Astrophysik Potsdam (AIP)
Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nürnberg
Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY)
University Groningen
Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie
University of Amsterdam
Universität Bielefeld
South African Radio Astronomy Observatory
University of the Western Cape
Rhodes University
Jagiellonian University
Onsala Space Observatory
Joint Institute for VLBI in Europe
LESIA - Laboratoire d'Etudes Spatiales et d'Instrumentation en Astrophysique

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

36 Scopus citations

Abstract

This paper presents the results from one of the first observations of ionospheric scintillation taken using the Low-Frequency Array (LOFAR). The observation was of the strong natural radio source Cassiopeia A, taken overnight on 18-19 August 2013, and exhibited moderately strong scattering effects in dynamic spectra of intensity received across an observing bandwidth of 10-80 MHz. Delay-Doppler spectra (the 2-D FFT of the dynamic spectrum) from the first hour of observation showed two discrete parabolic arcs, one with a steep curvature and the other shallow, which can be used to provide estimates of the distance to, and velocity of, the scattering plasma. A cross-correlation analysis of data received by the dense array of stations in the LOFAR "core"reveals two different velocities in the scintillation pattern: a primary velocity of ~20-40 ms-1 with a north-west to south-east direction, associated with the steep parabolic arc and a scattering altitude in the F-region or higher, and a secondary velocity of ~110 ms-1 with a north-east to south-west direction, associated with the shallow arc and a scattering altitude in the D-region. Geomagnetic activity was low in the mid-latitudes at the time, but a weak sub-storm at high latitudes reached its peak at the start of the observation. An analysis of Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) and ionosonde data from the time reveals a larger-scale travelling ionospheric disturbance (TID), possibly the result of the high-latitude activity, travelling in the north-west to south-east direction, and, simultaneously, a smaller-scale TID travelling in a north-east to south-west direction, which could be associated with atmospheric gravity wave activity. The LOFAR observation shows scattering from both TIDs, at different altitudes and propagating in different directions. To the best of our knowledge this is the first time that such a phenomenon has been reported.

Original language	British English
Article number	10
Journal	Journal of Space Weather and Space Climate
Volume	10
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1051/swsc/2020010
State	Published - 2020

Keywords

Instability mechanisms
Ionospheric scintillation
Travelling ionospheric disturbances

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10.1051/swsc/2020010

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Cite this

Fallows, R. A., Forte, B., Astin, I., Allbrook, T., Arnold, A., Wood, A., Dorrian, G., Mevius, M., Rothkaehl, H., Matyjasiak, B., Krankowski, A., Anderson, J. M., Asgekar, A., Avruch, I. M., Bentum, M., Bisi, M. M., Butcher, H. R., Ciardi, B., Dabrowski, B., ... Zucca, P. (2020). A LOFAR observation of ionospheric scintillation from two simultaneous travelling ionospheric disturbances. Journal of Space Weather and Space Climate, 10, Article 10. https://doi.org/10.1051/swsc/2020010

@article{4b4a05eeaf8542eab3598ae6901402da,

title = "A LOFAR observation of ionospheric scintillation from two simultaneous travelling ionospheric disturbances",

abstract = "This paper presents the results from one of the first observations of ionospheric scintillation taken using the Low-Frequency Array (LOFAR). The observation was of the strong natural radio source Cassiopeia A, taken overnight on 18-19 August 2013, and exhibited moderately strong scattering effects in dynamic spectra of intensity received across an observing bandwidth of 10-80 MHz. Delay-Doppler spectra (the 2-D FFT of the dynamic spectrum) from the first hour of observation showed two discrete parabolic arcs, one with a steep curvature and the other shallow, which can be used to provide estimates of the distance to, and velocity of, the scattering plasma. A cross-correlation analysis of data received by the dense array of stations in the LOFAR {"}core{"}reveals two different velocities in the scintillation pattern: a primary velocity of \textasciitilde{}20-40 ms-1 with a north-west to south-east direction, associated with the steep parabolic arc and a scattering altitude in the F-region or higher, and a secondary velocity of \textasciitilde{}110 ms-1 with a north-east to south-west direction, associated with the shallow arc and a scattering altitude in the D-region. Geomagnetic activity was low in the mid-latitudes at the time, but a weak sub-storm at high latitudes reached its peak at the start of the observation. An analysis of Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) and ionosonde data from the time reveals a larger-scale travelling ionospheric disturbance (TID), possibly the result of the high-latitude activity, travelling in the north-west to south-east direction, and, simultaneously, a smaller-scale TID travelling in a north-east to south-west direction, which could be associated with atmospheric gravity wave activity. The LOFAR observation shows scattering from both TIDs, at different altitudes and propagating in different directions. To the best of our knowledge this is the first time that such a phenomenon has been reported.",

keywords = "Instability mechanisms, Ionospheric scintillation, Travelling ionospheric disturbances",

author = "Fallows, \{Richard A.\} and Biagio Forte and Ivan Astin and Tom Allbrook and Alex Arnold and Alan Wood and Gareth Dorrian and Maaijke Mevius and Hanna Rothkaehl and Barbara Matyjasiak and Andrzej Krankowski and Anderson, \{James M.\} and Ashish Asgekar and Avruch, \{I. Max\} and Mark Bentum and Bisi, \{Mario M.\} and Butcher, \{Harvey R.\} and Benedetta Ciardi and Bartosz Dabrowski and Sieds Damstra and \{De Gasperin\}, Francesco and Sven Duscha and Jochen Eisl{\"o}ffel and Franzen, \{Thomas M.O.\} and Garrett, \{Michael A.\} and Grie{\ss}meier, \{Jean Matthias\} and Gunst, \{Andr{\'e} W.\} and Matthias Hoeft and H{\"o}randel, \{J{\"o}rg R.\} and Marco Iacobelli and Intema, \{Huib T.\} and Koopmans, \{Leon V.E.\} and Peter Maat and Gottfried Mann and Anna Nelles and Harm Paas and Pandey, \{Vishambhar N.\} and Wolfgang Reich and Antonia Rowlinson and Mark Ruiter and Schwarz, \{Dominik J.\} and MacIej Serylak and Aleksander Shulevski and Smirnov, \{Oleg M.\} and Marian Soida and Matthias Steinmetz and Satyendra Thoudam and Toribio, \{M. Carmen\} and \{Van Ardenne\}, Arnold and \{Van Bemmel\}, \{Ilse M.\} and \{Van Der Wiel\}, \{Matthijs H.D.\} and \{Van Haarlem\}, \{Michiel P.\} and Vermeulen, \{Ren{\'e} C.\} and Christian Vocks and Wijers, \{Ralph A.M.J.\} and Olaf Wucknitz and Philippe Zarka and Pietro Zucca",

note = "Funding Information: Acknowledgements. This paper is based on data obtained with the International LOFAR Telescope (ILT) under project code “IPS”. LOFAR (van Haarlem et al., 2013) is the Low Frequency Array designed and constructed by ASTRON. It has observing, data processing, and data storage facilities in several countries, that are owned by various parties (each with their own funding sources), and that are collectively operated by the ILT foundation under a joint scientific policy. The ILT resources have benefitted from the following recent major funding sources: CNRS-INSU, Observatoire de Paris and Universit{\'e} d{\textquoteright}Orl{\'e}ans, France; BMBF, MIWF-NRW, MPG, Germany; Science Foundation Ireland (SFI), Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation (DBEI), Ireland; NWO, The Netherlands; The Science and Technology Facilities Council, UK; Ministry of Science and Higher Education, Poland. The work carried out at the University of Bath was supported by the Natural Environment Research Council (grant number NE/R009082/1) and by the European Space Agency/Thales Alenia Space Italy (H2020-MOM-TASI-016-00002). We thank Troms{\o} Geophysical Observatory, UiT the Arctic University of Norway, for providing the lyr, bjn, nor, tro, rvk, and kar magnetometer data. The Kp index and the Chilton ionosonde data were obtained from the U.K. Solar System Data Centre at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory. Part of the research leading to these results has received funding from the European Community{\textquoteright}s Horizon 2020 Programme H2020-INFRADEV-2017-1under grant agreement 777442. The editor thanks two anonymous reviewers for their assistance in evaluating this paper. Funding Information: Since this observation was taken, many more have been carried out under a number of projects, recording ionospheric scintillation data at times when the telescope would otherwise be idle. These demonstrate a wide range of scintillation conditions over LOFAR, some of which are seen only very occasionally and perhaps by only one or two of the international stations, illustrating the value to be had by monitoring the ionosphere at these frequencies. A design study, LOFAR4SpaceWeather (LOFAR4SW – funded from the European Community{\textquoteright}s Horizon 2020 Programme H2020 INFRADEV-2017-1 under grant agreement 777442) currently underway will design a possible upgrade to LOFAR to enable, amongst other space weather observations, ionospheric monitoring in parallel with the regular radio astronomy observations. Such a design, if implemented, would enable a full statistical study of ionospheric scintillation at these frequencies, alongside the advances in scintillation modelling and our understanding of the ionospheric conditions causing it which can be gleaned in focussed studies such as that presented here. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} R.A Fallows et al., Published by EDP Sciences 2020.",

year = "2020",

doi = "10.1051/swsc/2020010",

language = "British English",

volume = "10",

journal = "Journal of Space Weather and Space Climate",

issn = "2115-7251",

publisher = "EDP Sciences",

}

Fallows, RA, Forte, B, Astin, I, Allbrook, T, Arnold, A, Wood, A, Dorrian, G, Mevius, M, Rothkaehl, H, Matyjasiak, B, Krankowski, A, Anderson, JM, Asgekar, A, Avruch, IM, Bentum, M, Bisi, MM, Butcher, HR, Ciardi, B, Dabrowski, B, Damstra, S, De Gasperin, F, Duscha, S, Eislöffel, J, Franzen, TMO, Garrett, MA, Grießmeier, JM, Gunst, AW, Hoeft, M, Hörandel, JR, Iacobelli, M, Intema, HT, Koopmans, LVE, Maat, P, Mann, G, Nelles, A, Paas, H, Pandey, VN, Reich, W, Rowlinson, A, Ruiter, M, Schwarz, DJ, Serylak, M, Shulevski, A, Smirnov, OM, Soida, M, Steinmetz, M, Thoudam, S, Toribio, MC, Van Ardenne, A, Van Bemmel, IM, Van Der Wiel, MHD, Van Haarlem, MP, Vermeulen, RC, Vocks, C, Wijers, RAMJ, Wucknitz, O, Zarka, P & Zucca, P 2020, 'A LOFAR observation of ionospheric scintillation from two simultaneous travelling ionospheric disturbances', Journal of Space Weather and Space Climate, vol. 10, 10. https://doi.org/10.1051/swsc/2020010

TY - JOUR

T1 - A LOFAR observation of ionospheric scintillation from two simultaneous travelling ionospheric disturbances

AU - Fallows, Richard A.

AU - Forte, Biagio

AU - Astin, Ivan

AU - Allbrook, Tom

AU - Arnold, Alex

AU - Wood, Alan

AU - Dorrian, Gareth

AU - Mevius, Maaijke

AU - Rothkaehl, Hanna

AU - Matyjasiak, Barbara

AU - Krankowski, Andrzej

AU - Anderson, James M.

AU - Asgekar, Ashish

AU - Avruch, I. Max

AU - Bentum, Mark

AU - Bisi, Mario M.

AU - Butcher, Harvey R.

AU - Ciardi, Benedetta

AU - Dabrowski, Bartosz

AU - Damstra, Sieds

AU - De Gasperin, Francesco

AU - Duscha, Sven

AU - Eislöffel, Jochen

AU - Franzen, Thomas M.O.

AU - Garrett, Michael A.

AU - Grießmeier, Jean Matthias

AU - Gunst, André W.

AU - Hoeft, Matthias

AU - Hörandel, Jörg R.

AU - Iacobelli, Marco

AU - Intema, Huib T.

AU - Koopmans, Leon V.E.

AU - Maat, Peter

AU - Mann, Gottfried

AU - Nelles, Anna

AU - Paas, Harm

AU - Pandey, Vishambhar N.

AU - Reich, Wolfgang

AU - Rowlinson, Antonia

AU - Ruiter, Mark

AU - Schwarz, Dominik J.

AU - Serylak, MacIej

AU - Shulevski, Aleksander

AU - Smirnov, Oleg M.

AU - Soida, Marian

AU - Steinmetz, Matthias

AU - Thoudam, Satyendra

AU - Toribio, M. Carmen

AU - Van Ardenne, Arnold

AU - Van Bemmel, Ilse M.

AU - Van Der Wiel, Matthijs H.D.

AU - Van Haarlem, Michiel P.

AU - Vermeulen, René C.

AU - Vocks, Christian

AU - Wijers, Ralph A.M.J.

AU - Wucknitz, Olaf

AU - Zarka, Philippe

AU - Zucca, Pietro

N1 - Funding Information: Acknowledgements. This paper is based on data obtained with the International LOFAR Telescope (ILT) under project code “IPS”. LOFAR (van Haarlem et al., 2013) is the Low Frequency Array designed and constructed by ASTRON. It has observing, data processing, and data storage facilities in several countries, that are owned by various parties (each with their own funding sources), and that are collectively operated by the ILT foundation under a joint scientific policy. The ILT resources have benefitted from the following recent major funding sources: CNRS-INSU, Observatoire de Paris and Université d’Orléans, France; BMBF, MIWF-NRW, MPG, Germany; Science Foundation Ireland (SFI), Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation (DBEI), Ireland; NWO, The Netherlands; The Science and Technology Facilities Council, UK; Ministry of Science and Higher Education, Poland. The work carried out at the University of Bath was supported by the Natural Environment Research Council (grant number NE/R009082/1) and by the European Space Agency/Thales Alenia Space Italy (H2020-MOM-TASI-016-00002). We thank Tromsø Geophysical Observatory, UiT the Arctic University of Norway, for providing the lyr, bjn, nor, tro, rvk, and kar magnetometer data. The Kp index and the Chilton ionosonde data were obtained from the U.K. Solar System Data Centre at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory. Part of the research leading to these results has received funding from the European Community’s Horizon 2020 Programme H2020-INFRADEV-2017-1under grant agreement 777442. The editor thanks two anonymous reviewers for their assistance in evaluating this paper. Funding Information: Since this observation was taken, many more have been carried out under a number of projects, recording ionospheric scintillation data at times when the telescope would otherwise be idle. These demonstrate a wide range of scintillation conditions over LOFAR, some of which are seen only very occasionally and perhaps by only one or two of the international stations, illustrating the value to be had by monitoring the ionosphere at these frequencies. A design study, LOFAR4SpaceWeather (LOFAR4SW – funded from the European Community’s Horizon 2020 Programme H2020 INFRADEV-2017-1 under grant agreement 777442) currently underway will design a possible upgrade to LOFAR to enable, amongst other space weather observations, ionospheric monitoring in parallel with the regular radio astronomy observations. Such a design, if implemented, would enable a full statistical study of ionospheric scintillation at these frequencies, alongside the advances in scintillation modelling and our understanding of the ionospheric conditions causing it which can be gleaned in focussed studies such as that presented here. Publisher Copyright: © R.A Fallows et al., Published by EDP Sciences 2020.

PY - 2020

Y1 - 2020

N2 - This paper presents the results from one of the first observations of ionospheric scintillation taken using the Low-Frequency Array (LOFAR). The observation was of the strong natural radio source Cassiopeia A, taken overnight on 18-19 August 2013, and exhibited moderately strong scattering effects in dynamic spectra of intensity received across an observing bandwidth of 10-80 MHz. Delay-Doppler spectra (the 2-D FFT of the dynamic spectrum) from the first hour of observation showed two discrete parabolic arcs, one with a steep curvature and the other shallow, which can be used to provide estimates of the distance to, and velocity of, the scattering plasma. A cross-correlation analysis of data received by the dense array of stations in the LOFAR "core"reveals two different velocities in the scintillation pattern: a primary velocity of ~20-40 ms-1 with a north-west to south-east direction, associated with the steep parabolic arc and a scattering altitude in the F-region or higher, and a secondary velocity of ~110 ms-1 with a north-east to south-west direction, associated with the shallow arc and a scattering altitude in the D-region. Geomagnetic activity was low in the mid-latitudes at the time, but a weak sub-storm at high latitudes reached its peak at the start of the observation. An analysis of Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) and ionosonde data from the time reveals a larger-scale travelling ionospheric disturbance (TID), possibly the result of the high-latitude activity, travelling in the north-west to south-east direction, and, simultaneously, a smaller-scale TID travelling in a north-east to south-west direction, which could be associated with atmospheric gravity wave activity. The LOFAR observation shows scattering from both TIDs, at different altitudes and propagating in different directions. To the best of our knowledge this is the first time that such a phenomenon has been reported.

AB - This paper presents the results from one of the first observations of ionospheric scintillation taken using the Low-Frequency Array (LOFAR). The observation was of the strong natural radio source Cassiopeia A, taken overnight on 18-19 August 2013, and exhibited moderately strong scattering effects in dynamic spectra of intensity received across an observing bandwidth of 10-80 MHz. Delay-Doppler spectra (the 2-D FFT of the dynamic spectrum) from the first hour of observation showed two discrete parabolic arcs, one with a steep curvature and the other shallow, which can be used to provide estimates of the distance to, and velocity of, the scattering plasma. A cross-correlation analysis of data received by the dense array of stations in the LOFAR "core"reveals two different velocities in the scintillation pattern: a primary velocity of ~20-40 ms-1 with a north-west to south-east direction, associated with the steep parabolic arc and a scattering altitude in the F-region or higher, and a secondary velocity of ~110 ms-1 with a north-east to south-west direction, associated with the shallow arc and a scattering altitude in the D-region. Geomagnetic activity was low in the mid-latitudes at the time, but a weak sub-storm at high latitudes reached its peak at the start of the observation. An analysis of Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) and ionosonde data from the time reveals a larger-scale travelling ionospheric disturbance (TID), possibly the result of the high-latitude activity, travelling in the north-west to south-east direction, and, simultaneously, a smaller-scale TID travelling in a north-east to south-west direction, which could be associated with atmospheric gravity wave activity. The LOFAR observation shows scattering from both TIDs, at different altitudes and propagating in different directions. To the best of our knowledge this is the first time that such a phenomenon has been reported.

KW - Instability mechanisms

KW - Ionospheric scintillation

KW - Travelling ionospheric disturbances

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85088261197

U2 - 10.1051/swsc/2020010

DO - 10.1051/swsc/2020010

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85088261197

SN - 2115-7251

VL - 10

JO - Journal of Space Weather and Space Climate

JF - Journal of Space Weather and Space Climate

M1 - 10

ER -

A LOFAR observation of ionospheric scintillation from two simultaneous travelling ionospheric disturbances

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