[P-EM12] Coupling Processes in the Atmosphere-Ionosphere System

[PEM12-P11] Response of the F₂-peak electron density and height to plasma depletion bays in the equatorial nighttime ionosphere observed by FORMOSAT-7/COSMIC-2

*FU-YUAN CHANG^1,2, Jann-Yenq G Liu^1,2, PANTHALINGAL-KRISHNANUNNI RAJESH³, CHI-YEN LIN^1,2 (1.National Central University, 2.Center for Astronautical Physics and Engineering, National Central University, Taiwan, 3.Department of Earth Sciences, National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan)

Keywords:FORMOSAT-7/COSMIC-2, Plasma Depletion Bay, Neutral wind effect

FORMOSAT-7/COSMIC-2 (F7/C2) satellite cluster, launched in June 2019, performs radio occultation experiments observing the vertical electron density profiles in the low-latitude ionosphere. The F7/C2 F₂-peak electron density (NmF2) and height (hmF2) are used to identify and examine the behavior of the plasma depletion bay (PDB) structures in the equatorial nighttime ionosphere. The NmF2 reveals three distinct PDBs within 60^ºW−15^ºE, 30^º−90^ºE, and 110^º−160^ºE during June solstice, while a single PDB appears within 150^º−60^ºW during December solstice. All the four PDBs’ features simultaneously appear during March and September equinoxes. Asymmetries in the hmF2 over the PDB regions suggests that the electron density increases (decreases) are related to the NmF2 ascending (descending) in the summer (winter) hemispheres. Agreements between F7/C2 observations and HWM93 results show that the asymmetry of vertical motions driven by the neutral wind is the main causal mechanism for the longitudinal variation of PDBs.