Ionospheric response over Thailand from the 15 January 2022 eruption of
the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcano
Abstract
This study reports on the upper atmospheric response over Thailand to
the Hunga Tonga volcano’s eruption on January 15th, 2022. The eruption
occurred during the geomagnetic storm recovery phase, providing a rare
comparison between effects from outside (geomagnetic storm) and inside
atmosphere (volcanic eruption). About nine hours later, we observed
post-eruption fluctuations in the ionosphere total electron content
(TEC). TEC was recorded in Thailand approximately ten times remarkably
higher than typical levels from this large perturbation. The initial
impact reached Thailand with speed of ~275 m/s.
Detrended TEC (dTEC) revealed mixed wave packets at various intervals.
Two significant traveling ionospheric disturbance (TID) waves reached
Thailand at 13 UT and 14 UT, respectively. Equatorial plasma bubbles
(EPBs) were observed between 12-15 UT and 17-18 UT over Thailand. Our
findings could provide insight into how communication signals over
Thailand are affected by both disturbances, particularly in the case of
widespread volcanic eruptions.