The electric coupling between the lithosphere and the ionosphere is examined. The electric field is considered as a timevarying irregular vertical Coulomb field presumably produced on the Earth’s surface before an earthquake within its epicentral zone by some micro-processes in the lithosphere. It is shown that the Fourier component of this electric field with a frequency of 500 Hz and a horizontal scale-size of 100 km produces in the nighttime ionosphere of high and middle latitudes a transverse electric field with a magnitude of ~20 mV/m if the peak value of the amplitude of this Fourier component is just 30 V/m. The time-varying vertical Coulomb field with a frequency of 500 Hz penetrates from the ground into the ionosphere by a factor of ~7×105 more efficient than a time independent vertical electrostatic field of the same scale size. The transverse electric field with amplitude of 20 mV/m will cause perturbations in the nighttime F region electron density through heating the F region plasma resulting in a reduction of the downward plasma flux from the protonosphere and an excitation of acoustic gravity waves.

As a part of collaborative efforts to understand ionospheric irregularities, the Korea ionospheric scintillation sites (KISS) network has been built based on global positioning system (GPS) receivers with sampling rates higher than 1 Hz. We produce the rate of TEC index (ROTI) to represent GPS TEC fluctuations related to ionospheric irregularities. In the KISS network, two ground-based GPS sites at Kiruna (marker: KIRN; geographic: 67.9° N, 21.4° E; geomagnetic: 65.2° N) and Chuuk (marker: CHUK; geographic: 7.5° N, 151.9° E; geomagnetic: 0.4° N) were selected to evaluate the ROTI value for ionospheric irregularities during the occurrence of the 2015 St. Patrick’s Day storm. The KIRN ROTI values in the aurora region appear to be generally much higher than the CHUK ROTI values in the EIA region. The CHUK ROTI values increased to ~0.5 TECU/min around UT=13:00 (LT=23:00) on March 16 in the quiet geomagnetic condition. On March 17, 2015, CHUK ROTI values more than 1.0 TECU/min were measured between UT=9:00 and 12:00 (LT=19:00 and 22:00) during the first main phase of the St. Patrick’s Day storm. This may be due to ionospheric irregularities by increased pre-reversal enhancement (PRE) after sunset during the geomagnetic storm. Post-midnight, the CHUK ROTI showed two peaks of ~0.5 TECU/min and ~0.3 TECU/min near UT=15:00 (LT=01:00) and UT=18:00 (LT=04:00) at the second main phase. The KIRN site showed significant peaks of ROTI around geomagnetic latitude=63.3° N and MLT=15:40 on the same day. These can be explained by enhanced ionospheric irregularities in the auroral oval at the maximum of AE index

The F2-layer critical frequency (foF2) data from several ionosondes are employed to study the long-distance effect of the M8.8 Chile Earthquake of February 27, 2010, on the F2 layer. Significant perturbations of the peak F2-layer electron density have been observed following the earthquake at two South African stations, Hermanus and Madimbo, which are located at great circle distances of ~8,000 and ~10,000 km from the earthquake epicenter, respectively. Simplified estimates demonstrate that the observed ionospheric perturbations can be caused by a long-period acoustic gravity wave produced in the F-region by the earthquake.

December 2009 was one of the quietest (monthly Ap=2) months over the last eight decades. It provided an excellent opportunity to study the day-to-day variability of the F2 layer with the smallest contribution due to geomagnetic activity. With this aim, we analyze hourly values of the F2-layer critical frequency (foF2) recorded at 18 ionosonde stations during the magnetically quietest (Ap=0) days of the month. The foF2 variability is quantified as the relative standard deviation of foF2 about the mean of all the “zero-Ap” days of December 2009. This case study may contribute to a more clear vision of the F2-layer variability caused by sources not linked to geomagnetic activity. In accord with previous studies, we find that there is considerable “zero-Ap” variability of foF2 all over the world. At most locations, foF2 variability is presumably affected by the passage of the solar terminator. The patterns of foF2 variability are different at different stations. Possible causes of the observed diurnal foF2 variability may be related to “meteorological” disturbances transmitted from the lower atmosphere or/and effects of the intrinsic turbulence of the ionosphere-atmosphere system.

In this study, we documented the midlatitude F2-layer response to five strong geomagnetic storms with minimum Dst < –150 nT that occurred in solar minimum years using hourly values of the F2-layer critical frequency (foF2) from four ionosondes located in different hemispheres. The results were very limited, but they illustrated some peculiarities in the behavior of the F2-layer storm. During equinox, the characteristic ionospheric disturbance patterns over the Japanese station Wakkanai in the Northern Hemisphere and the Australian station Mundaring in the Southern Hemisphere were consistent with the well-known scenario by Prölss (1993); however, during a December solstice magnetic storm, both stations did not observe any noticeable positive ionospheric disturbances. Over the “near-pole” European ionosonde, clear positive ionospheric storms were not observed during the events, but the “far-from-pole” Southern Hemisphere station Port Stanley showed prominent enhancements in F2-layer peak electron density in all magnetic storms except one. No event produced noticeable nighttime enhancements in foF2 over all four ionosondes.

In this paper we study the transmission of the electrostatic field due to coulomb charges of an individual thundercloud into the midlatitude ionosphere, taking into account the total geomagnetic field integrated Pedersen conductivity of the ionosphere. It is shown that at ionospheric altitudes, a typical thundercloud produces an insignificant electrostatic field whereas a giant thundercloud can drive the horizontal electrostatic field with a magnitude of ~270 μV/m for nighttime conditions.

The results of the study of ionospheric variations in the summer months of 1998-2002 at an ionospheric station of vertical sounding "Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky" are presented. Anomalous variations of virtual sporadic-E height (h'Es), Es blanketing frequency (fbEs), and the critical frequency of the ionospheric F2 layer (foF2) (which can be attributed to the possible earthquake precursors) are selected. The high efficiency of the selection of ionospheric earthquake precursors based on the several parameters of Es and F2 layers is shown. The empirical dependence, which reflects the connection between the lead-time of the earthquake moment, the distance to the epicenter from the observation point, and the magnitude of the earthquake are obtained. This empirical dependence is consistent with the results of the detection of earthquake precursors by measuring the physical parameters of the Earth's crust in the same region.