As thunderstorm updrafts strengthen, electrification of clouds can heat the lower ionosphere, explaining prolonged disturbances to radio waves in the rarefied atmospheric layer.
Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Newly Discovered Electric Current System Very Close to Saturn
In the tightly confined region between the innermost ring and the planet’s upper atmosphere, the Cassini spacecraft observed signatures of a previously undetected current system.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Human-made Emissions Modify Electron Space Environment
Very Low Frequency transmitters used for communications with submarines modify the dynamics of energetic electrons in the inner radiation belt and the slot region.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Holistic Views of the Nighttime Ionosphere
The nightside ionosphere, at latitudes away from the auroral zone, should have very little charged particle density, but it doesn’t. A new comprehensive study of satellite data explains why.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
The When and Where of Mesospheric Bores Revealed
In a new study, the enigmatic gravity waves were seen most frequently at equatorial latitudes and propagating from the winter to the summer hemisphere.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Solar Properties Rival for Control of Mars’s Bow Shock
While most planetary bow shocks are controlled by the solar wind, at Mars the solar EUV flux is equally important.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Red and Green Aurora Stop and Go for Different Reasons
Green-line arc is found to be embedded within large-scale upward field aligned currents while red-line-only arc is found to be associated with low-energy precipitation bursts.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Understanding the Turbulent Nature of the Solar Wind
Sometimes the conditions in the solar wind can change dramatically over short distances. Satellite observations of these features show that they’re more complex than previously thought.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Data Mining Reveals the Dynamics of Auroral Substorms
An analysis of 5 decades of satellite data has pieced together the most comprehensive picture yet of substorms, the magnetic disturbances that cause surges of aurora.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
No Underground Magma Ocean on Jupiter’s Fiery Moon?
A new study suggests alternative explanations for Io’s unusual magnetic field.