Observation of equatorial nighttime medium‐scale traveling ionospheric disturbances in 630‐nm airglow images over 7 years

Abstract

We report on nighttime medium‐scale traveling ionospheric disturbances (MSTIDs) observed at Kototabang, Indonesia (geographic longitude: 100.3°E; geographic latitude: 0.2°S; and geomagnetic latitude: 10.6°S) during a 7‐year period from October 2002 to October 2009. MSTIDs were observed in 630‐nm nighttime airglow images by using a highly sensitive all‐sky airglow imager at Kototabang. The averages and standard deviations of horizontal phase velocity, period, and horizontal wavelength of MSTIDs observed during the 7 years were 320 ± 170 m/s, 42 ± 11 min, and 790 ± 440 km, respectively. The occurrence rate of the observed MSTIDs decreased with decreasing solar activity. The average horizontal wavelength of MSTIDs increased with decreasing solar activity. Southward MSTIDs were dominant throughout the 7 years of observations. These facts are consistent with the hypothesis that the observed MSTIDs are caused by gravity waves in the thermosphere. Moreover, we compared the propagation directions of the observed MSTIDs with the locations of tropospheric convection activity for the events where gravity waves producing the observed MSTIDs could have existed in the lower atmosphere. Strong tropospheric convection was found within ±30 degrees from the source directions of MSTIDs in 81% of the MSTID events. In such events, gravity waves were possibly generated from deep convection in the troposphere and directly propagated into the thermosphere.