Study of Sporadic E layer effect on the F layer during 23rd June 2015 geomagnetic storm event

Abstract

Investigating the sporadic E (Es) layer effect on the F layer during a geomagnetic storm event is essential to understanding the impact of ionospheric irregularities on trans-ionospheric radio communication and navigation systems. In equatorial and low latitude regions, the enhancement in the F layer leads to the development of equatorial spread F (ESF), and the F layer suppression leads to the inhibition of ESF. The Es layer and ESF events recorded by the Canadian Advanced Digital Ionosonde (CADI) system located at low latitude Hyderabad, India (Lat: 17.47°N, Long: 78.57°E) region and co-located global positioning system (GPS) amplitude scintillations index (S4) parameters during 23rd June 2015 geomagnetic storm event are considered in the present analysis. The suppression of spread F due to the presence of Es and subsequent inhibition of amplitude scintillations were examined during adverse space weather conditions from 22nd to 24th June 2015. It is observed from the analysis results that the amplitude scintillations at the low latitude region were inhibited due to the suppression of spread F in response to the development of the Es layer during the considered geomagnetic storm event. The Es and ESF parameters are supporting input parameters to ionospheric prediction or forecasting models and can be used to initiate the scintillation alerts in GPS and High Frequency (HF) communication applications.