Postmidnight mid-latitude ionospheric trough position oscillations during solar cycle 24

Abstract

In this work, the Global Ionospheric Maps (GIMs) are used to analyze the behavior of the mid-latitude ionospheric trough (MIT) during the solar cycle 24 (2008–2019). This analysis is performed for the Northern and Southern Hemispheres at different local times: 00, 02 and 04 LT. We study the MIT position dependence on the phase of the solar cycle, seasonal, and geomagnetic activity during the post-midnight period. We find that the MIT position shows an interhemispheric asymmetry. Its equatorward movement from low to high solar activity is about 3° and 1° for Northern and Southern Hemisphere respectively for the three local times analyzed. There is also a clear seasonal variation, the shift between winter and summer is around 3° and 1° at 00 LT and 6° and 4° at 04 LT for the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, respectively. In general, the MIT position reaches the highest geomagnetic latitude in winter, without variation with local time. However, in summer it takes the lowest geomagnetic latitude, moving towards the equator from 00LT to 04LT. The MIT position moves equatorward under disturbed geomagnetic conditions, and the difference between the MIT position during quiet and perturbed days is greater in the Northern than in the Southern Hemisphere. In addition, the periodicity of the variability of the MIT position for both Hemispheres versus the solar wind speed and IMF Bz-component are analyzed using the wavelet transform, showing a clear dependence between them during the descending and minimum solar phase at 13.5 and 27-day time scales.