Connections between deep tropical clouds and the Earth's ionosphere

Abstract

We report on a series of simulations with the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) thermosphere‐ionosphere‐mesosphere‐electrodynamics general circulation model (TIME‐GCM) which were designed to replicate and facilitate the interpretation of the longitudinal structure discovered in IMAGE satellite airglow observations of the equatorial ionization anomaly (EIA) at the far‐ultraviolet (FUV) 135.6‐nm wavelength during March–April 2002 equinox. Our TIME‐GCM results indicate that the four‐peaked longitudinal variation in the EIA observed by IMAGE‐FUV near 20:00 local solar time can be explained by the effects of an eastward propagating zonal wavenumber‐3 diurnal tide (DE3) that is excited by latent heat release associated with raindrop formation in the tropical troposphere.