Highlights The occurrence times of the daytime strongest EIA (TEIA) and EEJ are statistically studied during 2008 to 2018. TEIA exhibits similar seasonal and different solar-cycle variations in the eastern Asian and American sectors. Such seasonal and solar-cycle variations are not determined by the E × B drift.

    Abstract The daily evolution of the Equatorial Ionization Anomaly (EIA) and the Equatorial Electrojet (EEJ) exhibits phase difference, which reflects the response time of the F-region equatorial plasma fountain to the E-region electric field variation. Studies on this response time contribute to clarifying the relative importance of different influence factors on the low-latitude E- and F-region coupling process. However, the solar-cycle, seasonal and longitudinal dependence of this response time has not yet been comprehensively revealed. In this paper, the occurrence time of the daytime most developed northern EIA crest (TEIA), the occurrence time of the daytime strongest EEJ (TEEJ), and their time delay (δT = TEIA-TEEJ) during 2008 to 2018 are derived from total electron content and magnetometer data, and the seasonal and solar-cycle variations of these parameters are analyzed and compared between the eastern Asian and American sectors. Main results are as follows. (1) TEIA and δT share similar seasonal and solar-cycle variation patterns, which are different from TEEJ. (2) The prevailing seasonal variation pattern of TEIA is generally consistent in the two sectors, which is earlier (later) in the boreal winter (summer). This feature is not determined by the variations of TEEJ or EEJ strength. (3) The solar-cycle variation pattern of TEIA is different between the eastern Asian and American sectors, but the 11-yr averaged TEIA is nearly the same in the two sectors. The solar-cycle and longitudinal dependencies are probably due to the combined effect of electric field, meridional wind, and local geomagnetic field configuration.


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    Title :

    The time delay between the equatorial ionization anomaly and the equatorial electrojet in the eastern Asian and American sectors


    Contributors:
    Liu, Jing (author) / Zhang, Donghe (author) / Hao, Yongqiang (author) / Xiao, Zuo (author)

    Published in:

    Advances in Space Research ; 69 , 1 ; 187-196


    Publication date :

    2021-10-02


    Size :

    10 pages




    Type of media :

    Article (Journal)


    Type of material :

    Electronic Resource


    Language :

    English