Simulation Study of the 15 January 2022 Tonga Event: Development of Super Equatorial Plasma Bubbles

26Citations
Citations of this article
13Readers
Mendeley users who have this article in their library.

This article is free to access.

Abstract

We present high-resolution simulation results of the response of the ionosphere/plasmasphere system to the 15 January 2022 Tonga volcanic eruption. We use the coupled Sami3 is Also a Model of the Ionosphere ionosphere/plasmasphere model and the HIgh Altitude Mechanistic general Circulation Model whole atmosphere model with primary atmospheric gravity wave effects from the Model for gravity wavE SOurces, Ray trAcing and reConstruction model. We find that the Tonga eruption produced a “super” equatorial plasma bubble (EPB) extending ∼30° in longitude and up to 500 km in altitude with a density depletion of 3 orders of magnitude. We also found a “train” of EPBs developed and extended over the longitude range 150°–200° and that two EPBs reached altitudes over 4,000 km. The primary cause of this behavior is the significant modification of the zonal neutral wind caused by the atmospheric disturbance associated with the eruption, and the subsequent modification of the dynamo electric field.

Cite

CITATION STYLE

APA

Huba, J. D., Becker, E., & Vadas, S. L. (2023). Simulation Study of the 15 January 2022 Tonga Event: Development of Super Equatorial Plasma Bubbles. Geophysical Research Letters, 50(1). https://doi.org/10.1029/2022GL101185

Register to see more suggestions

Mendeley helps you to discover research relevant for your work.

Already have an account?

Save time finding and organizing research with Mendeley

Sign up for free