for Space and Atmospheric Research Embry‐Riddle Aeronautical University Daytona Beach, Florida, USA
David A. Holdsworth Defence Science and Technology Group Edinburgh, Australia; and School of Physical Sciences The University of Adelaide Adelaide, Australia
Cheryl Huang Air Force Research Laboratory Space Vehicles Directorate Kirtland Air Force Base Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA
Joe D. Huba Syntek Technologies, Inc. Fairfax, Virginia, USA
Takashi Kikuchi Institute for Space-Earth Environmental Research Nagoya University Nagoya, Aichi, Japan
Karl Magnus Laundal Birkeland Center for Space Science University of Bergen Bergen, Norway
Huixin Liu Department of Earth and Planetary Science Kyushu University Fukuoka, Japan
Xiaoli Luan School of Earth and Space Sciences University of Science and Technology of China Hefei, China; and CAS Center for Excellence in Comparative Planetology Hefei, China
Hermann Lühr GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences Potsdam, Germany
Bjørn Lybekk Department of Physics University of Oslo Oslo, Norway
Larry R. Lyons Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences University of California Los Angeles, California, USA
Lukas Maes Max‐Planck Institute for Solar Systems Research Gottingen, Germany
Astrid Maute High Altitude Observatory National Center for Atmospheric Research Boulder, Colorado, USA
Ryan M. McGranaghan Science Division Atmosphere and Space Technology Research Associates Louisville, Colorado, USA and NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory California Institute of Technology Pasadena, California, USA
Stephen E. Milan Department of Physics and Astronomy University of Leicester Leicester, UK; and Birkeland Centre for Space Science University of Bergen Bergen, Norway
Evgeny Mishin Air Force Research Laboratory Space Vehicles Directorate Kirtland Air Force Base Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA
David J. Netherway Defence Science and Technology Group Edinburgh, Australia
Yukitoshi Nishimura Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Center for Space Physics Boston University Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Anders Ohma Birkeland Center for Space Science University of Bergen Bergen, Norway
Nikolai Østgaard Birkeland Center for Space Science University of Bergen Bergen, Norway
Yuichi Otsuka Institute for Space-Earth Environmental Research Nagoya University Nagoya, Japan
Nicholas M. Pedatella High Altitude Observatory National Center for Atmospheric Research Boulder, Colorado, USA
Arne Pedersen Department of Physics University of Oslo Oslo, Norway
Gareth W. Perry Department of Physics and Astronomy University of Calgary Calgary, Canada; and Center for Solar‐Terrestrial Research New Jersey Institute of Technology Newark, New Jersey, USA
Sam Pullen Aeronautics and Astronautics Department Stanford University Stanford, California, USA
Jone Reistad Birkeland Center for Space Science University of Bergen Bergen, Norway
Kristian Snekvik Birkeland Center for Space Science University of Bergen Bergen, Norway
Anatoly Streltsov Department of Physical Sciences Embry‐Riddle Aeronautical University Daytona Beach, Florida USA
Paul Tenfjord Birkeland Center for Space Science University of Bergen Bergen, Norway
Roland T. Tsunoda Center for Geospace Studies SRI International Menlo Park, California, USA
Todd Walter Aeronautics and Astronautics Department Stanford University Stanford, California, USA
Endawoke Yizengaw Space Science Application Laboratory The Aerospace Corporation El Segundo, California, USA
Matthew D. Zettergren Department of Physical Sciences and Center for Space and Atmospheric Research Embry‐Riddle Aeronautical University Daytona Beach, Florida, USA
Binzheng Zhang Department of Earth Sciences The University of Hong Kong Hong Kong SAR, China
Shun‐Rong Zhang Massachusetts Institute of Technology Haystack Observatory Westford, Massachusetts, USA
Yun‐Liang Zhou Department of Space Physics School of Electronic Information Wuhan University Wuhan, China
Shasha Zou Department of Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering University of Michigan Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
PREFACE
The ionosphere is a layer within the atmosphere that extends from about 60 kilometers above the Earth’s surface to about 1,000 kilometers in altitude. It consists of charged particles (i.e., electrons and ions) due to ionization of neutrals by solar radiation and energetic particle precipitation from the magnetosphere.
Since its discovery more than 100 years ago, the ionosphere has become an active research area and our understanding of ionospheric dynamics continues to evolve due to advances in observational technologies and new capabilities in theory and numerical modeling.
Ionospheric dynamics are affected by many different forcings, including solar flares, geomagnetic storms, tides and waves from the lower atmosphere, as well as disturbances triggered by earthquakes and tsunamis. The ionosphere behaves very differently under different solar and geomagnetic conditions, and its variability has direct impacts on radio communication and satellite navigation system.
Although our knowledge of the ionosphere has greatly advanced in recent decades, many important aspects of ionospheric dynamics are still not well understood, especially during geomagnetic storms, because of the complexity of the coupled magnetosphere-ionosphere-thermosphere system.
This book, divided into five parts, provides a comprehensive overview of global ionospheric research ranging from the polar cap to the equatorial region. Part 1 addresses magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling in the high-latitude ionosphere, ion outflow, and ionospheric convection in the polar cap and auroral zone. Part 2 concerns interhemispheric asymmetries, ionospheric structures such as large-scale storm enhanced density plumes, and meso- and small-scale structures in the subauroral and mid-latitude ionosphere. Part 3 focuses on the low-latitude ionosphere, including equatorial ionospheric electrodynamics, equatorial spread F, equatorial electrojet, and equatorial ionization anomaly. Part 4 covers global ionospheric processes such as penetration electric fields, magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling at middle and subauroral latitudes, sudden stratospheric warming impacts on the ionosphere, longitudinal dependence of ionospheric dynamics, and travelling ionospheric disturbances. Part 5 discusses ionospheric effects on HF wave propagation and satellite navigation, as well as ionospheric disturbances caused by earthquakes and tsunamis.
The chapters are written in the form of review articles, providing a coherent description of each topical area. Each chapter includes historical evolution, recent progress, latest results, current understanding, and future challenges of the specific topics. Theoretical analyses, numerical modelings, and observational results from ionospheric radars, satellites, and other space-borne and ground-based instruments are presented.
The book will serve as a useful reference for