A novel model called PyIRI was recently developed. It offers a fully Python alternative to the widely used FORTRAN International Reference Ionosphere (IRI) model to construct the ionospheric electron density for the entire day and on the entire global grid in one computation, which has a significantly lower computational overhead. PyIRI introduced a novel approach to the computation of the global and diurnal functions and their matrix multiplication with Consultative Committee on International Radio (CCIR) coefficients, that enabled this global approach for the density specification. Since the IRI-based Real-Time Assimilative Model (IRTAM) produces coefficients in a similar format as CCIR coefficients, the PyIRI software was extended to be able to work with IRTAM coefficients using the same computationally efficient approach. This technical note describes the PyIRTAM software and shows examples of how to use it. PyIRTAM is 21 times more efficient than the classical IRTAM. PyIRTAM tool is made publicly available.

In this work, we investigate various types of ionospheric disturbances observed over Europe after the earthquake in Turkey on 6 February 2023.By combining observations from Doppler sounding systems, ionosondes, and GNSS receivers, we are able to discern different types of disturbances, propagating with different velocities and through different mechanisms. We can detect the co-seismic disturbances produced in the ionosphere close to the epicenter, as well the ionospheric signatures of acoustic waves propagating as a consequence of propagating seismic waves.

The 15 January 2022 eruption of the Hunga volcano provides a unique opportunity to study the reaction of the ionosphere to large explosive events. In particular, this event allows us to study the global propagation of travelling ionospheric disturbances using various instruments. We focus on the detection of the ionospheric disturbances caused by this eruption over Europe, where dense networks of both ionosondes and GNSS receivers are available. This event took place on the day of a geomagnetic storm. We show how data from different instruments and from different observatories can be combined to clearly distinguish the TIDs produced by the eruption from those caused by concurrent geomagnetic activity. By comparing observations obtained from multiple types of instruments, we also show that TIDs produced by various mechanisms are present simultaneously, with different types of waves affecting different physical quantities.

This study presents results from magnetic field line conjunctions between the medium-Earth orbiting Demonstration and Science Experiments (DSX) satellite and the low-Earth orbiting VLF Propagation Mapper (VPM) satellite. DSX transmitted at very low frequencies (VLF) towards VPM, which was equipped with a single-axis dipole electric field antenna, when the two spacecraft passed near the same magnetic field line. VPM did not observe DSX signals in any of the 27 attempted conjunction experiments; the goal of this study, therefore, is to explain why DSX signals were not received. Explanations include i) the predicted power at LEO from DSX transmissions was too low for VPM to observe; ii) VPM’s trajectory missed the “spot” of highest intensity due to the focused ray paths reaching LEO; or iii) rays mirrored before reaching VPM. Different combinations of these explanations are found. We present ray-tracing analysis for each conjunction event to predict the distribution of power and wave normal angles in the vicinity of VPM at LEO altitudes. We find that, for low-frequency (below 4kHz) transmissions, nearly all rays mirror before reaching LEO, resulting in low amplitudes at LEO. For mid- and high-frequency transmissions (~8kHz and 28kHz respectively), the power at LEO is above the noise threshold of the VPM receiver (between 0.5µV/m and 1µV/m). We conclude that the antenna efficiency and plasmasphere model are critical in determining the predicted power at LEO, and are also the two most significant sources of uncertainty that could explain the apparent discrepancy between predicted amplitudes and VPM observations.

We describe the quasi-periodic (QP) whistler-mode emissions found in the plasmasphere as detected by electric and magnetic instrumentation onboard the Demonstration and Science Experiments (DSX) spacecraft in medium Earth orbit. Over the course of the nearly 2-year mission, at least 45 episodes of whistler mode QP emissions were detected by the Broad Band Receiver (BBR) onboard DSX. Episodes of QP emissions were identified by discrete events having a clear unambiguous periodic nature as detected by both the electric antennae and search coil magnetic sensor in the BBR survey data at 30 second temporal resolution. Most of the QP episodes occurred in a frequency range between 1- 4 kHz, in a band previously identified by Van Allen Probes and Cluster investigators. However, episodes were also detected by DSX at higher frequencies - events in these episodes extending all the way to 15 kHz. We present our findings on these unusual high frequency events in the presentation herein. Specifically, these high frequency QP episodes tended to be observed near dawn/dusk when the spacecraft was at relatively high magnetic latitudes and on magnetic L-shells between 3-5. Another unusual feature of these episodes is that individual up-drifting events making up the episode were found to sometimes occur concurrently in time: The high frequency portion of one up-drifting ‘polliwog-shaped’ event overlapped in time with the low frequency portion of the subsequent event. This behavior of the QP emissions has not been previously emphasized and we consider how this temporal concurrence relates to the source processes.