Document Type
Article
Publication Date
12-2021
Abstract
A global climatology of sporadic-E occurrence rates (ORs) based on ionosonde measurements is presented for the peak blanketing frequency, fbEs, and the ordinary mode peak frequency of the layer, foEs. ORs are calculated for a variety of sporadic-E frequency thresholds: no lower limit, 3, 5, and 7 MHz. Seasonal rates are calculated from 64 Digisonde sites during the period 2006–2020 using ionograms either manually or automatically scaled with ARTIST-5. Both foEs and fbEs ORs peak in the Northern Hemisphere during the boreal summer, with a decrease by roughly a factor of 2–3 in fbEs rates relative to foEs rates without a lower threshold on the sporadic-E intensity. This ratio of foEs to fbEs OR increases with increasing sporadic-E intensity, up to a factor of 5 for the 7 MHz threshold. An asymmetry is observed with the Southern Hemisphere peaks during the austral summer, with slightly lower rates compared with the Northern Hemisphere during the boreal summer. A drastic decrease in ORs is observed for the higher intensity thresholds, such that the fbEs occurrence rates for 7 MHz are nearly zero during most locations and seasons. These updated occurrence rates can be used for future statistical comparisons with GPS radio occultation-based sporadic-E occurrence rates.
DOI
10.3390/atmos12121558
Source Publication
Atmosphere
Recommended Citation
Merriman, D.K.; Nava, O.A.; Dao, E.V.; Emmons, D.J. Comparison of Seasonal foEs and fbEs Occurrence Rates Derived from Global Digisonde Measurements. Atmosphere 2021, 12, 1558. https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos12121558
Comments
Copyright: © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
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