Abstract
JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH,
VOL. 113,
A11317,
14 PP., 2008
doi:10.1029/2008JA013367
Reduction of electron temperature in low-latitude ionosphere at 600 km before and after large earthquakes
Institute of Space Science, National Central University, Jhongli, Taoyuan, Taiwan
Institute of Space Science, National Central University, Jhongli, Taoyuan, Taiwan
Institute of Space Science, National Central University, Jhongli, Taoyuan, Taiwan
Department of Physics, Tokyo Gakugei University, Tokyo, Japan
Earth Observation Research Center, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, Tsukuba, Japan
We examine ionospheric electron temperatures (Te) observed by HINOTORI satellite during three earthquakes; M6.6 occurred in November 1981, M7.4 and M6.6 in January 1982 over Philippine, respectively. It is found that Te around the epicenters significantly decreases in the afternoon periods within 5 days before and after the three earthquakes. The region of ionosphere disturbance extends to 80–120 degrees in longitude. A tendency exists that duration of the disturbance becomes longer as the increase of earthquake magnitude. F2 peak frequency, foF2 and virtual height, h'F from a chain of 4 ionosonde stations located in the longitude zone of 120°E–130°E are used together with electron density(Ne), that is observed simultaneously onboard HINOTORI satellite to find possible cause mechanisms of the abnormal reduction of electron temperatures. Behavior of HINOTORI Te/Ne and ionosonde foF2/h'F implies the existence of westward electric field over epicentre. Our finding suggests that simple two plasma instruments might be able to play a fundamental role to study ionosphere disturbance associated with earthquake, if the constellation of small/mini satellites is organized and the orbits are properly chosen.
Received 3 May 2008; accepted 9 September 2008; published 25 November 2008.
Citation: (2008), Reduction of electron temperature in low-latitude ionosphere at 600 km before and after large earthquakes, J. Geophys. Res., 113, A11317, doi:10.1029/2008JA013367.
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