Ionospheric Scintillation Induced by Hot Flow Anomalies via Particle Precipitation
7 affiliations
- 1Shandong Key Laboratory of Space Environment and Exploration Technology Institute of Space Sciences Shandong University Weihai China
- 2State Key Laboratory of Solar Activity and Space Weather National Space Science Center Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing China
- 3Department of Physics and Technology University of Bergen Bergen Norway
- 4Arctic Geophysics University Centre in Svalbard Longyearbyen Norway
- 5State Key Laboratory of Solar Activity and Space Weather School of Aerospace Science Harbin Institute of Technology (Shenzhen) Shenzhen China
- 6School of Integrated Circuits Shandong University Jinan China
- 7National Key Laboratory of Deep Space Exploration/School of Earth and Space Sciences University of Science and Technology of China Hefei China
Abstract
Ionospheric scintillation disrupts trans‐ionospheric radio signals and represents significant challenges for critical communication and navigation systems. Here we document that hot flow anomalies (HFAs), transient disturbances formed near Earth's bow shock, can contribute to scintillation near the cusp. We used coordinated multi‐instrument observations including GNSS receivers, SuperDARN, AMPERE, DMSP/SSUSI, MMS to link an upstream HFA to the scintillation in the polar ionosphere. During 10:47–10:57 UT on 19 November 2015, enhanced phase scintillation was observed, along with a convection vortex, enhanced field‐aligned currents (FACs) and nearby particle precipitation. An HFA and associated high‐speed jets (HSJs) were observed in the corresponding magnetic local time (MLT) region of the magnetosheath. Our analysis indicates that the HFA disturbs the magnetopause and enhances the FACs, causing the localized ionospheric density gradient instability, thereby triggering the ionospheric scintillation. These results show that the particle precipitation caused by HFAs can strongly affect the cusp plasma and trigger significant phase scintillation. Our results provided direct observational evidence that HFAs are a contributing source of polar space‐weather impacts on GNSS and radio systems.
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BibTeX
@article{zhao2026ionospheric,
title = {{Ionospheric Scintillation Induced by Hot Flow Anomalies via Particle Precipitation}},
author = {Jia‐Chen Zhao and Qing‐He Zhang and Zhong‐Wei Yang and Duan Zhang and Kjellmar Oksavik and Bo‐Yi Wang and Yu‐Zhang Ma and Zan‐Yang Xing and Yong Wang and Ling‐Xin Zhao and Xiang‐Yu Wang and Jin Guo and Shi‐Mou Wang and Cai‐Jun Yan and Bian‐Long Zhao and Hong‐Kai Zhang and Chang‐Yue Zhao},
journal = {AGU Advances},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1029/2026av002548},
url = {https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2026AV002548},
note = {CC BY-NC 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Ionospheric Scintillation Induced by Hot Flow Anomalies via Particle Precipitation
AU - Jia‐Chen Zhao
AU - Qing‐He Zhang
AU - Zhong‐Wei Yang
AU - Duan Zhang
AU - Kjellmar Oksavik
AU - Bo‐Yi Wang
AU - Yu‐Zhang Ma
AU - Zan‐Yang Xing
AU - Yong Wang
AU - Ling‐Xin Zhao
AU - Xiang‐Yu Wang
AU - Jin Guo
AU - Shi‐Mou Wang
AU - Cai‐Jun Yan
AU - Bian‐Long Zhao
AU - Hong‐Kai Zhang
AU - Chang‐Yue Zhao
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/09
JO - AGU Advances
DO - 10.1029/2026av002548
UR - https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2026AV002548
AB - Ionospheric scintillation disrupts trans‐ionospheric radio signals and represents significant challenges for critical communication and navigation systems. Here we document that hot flow anomalies (HFAs), transient disturbances formed near Earth's bow shock, can contribute to scintillation near the cusp. We used coordinated multi‐instrument observations including GNSS receivers, SuperDARN, AMPERE, DMSP/SSUSI, MMS to link an upstream HFA to the scintillation in the polar ionosphere. During 10:47–10:57 UT on 19 November 2015, enhanced phase scintillation was observed, along with a convection vortex, enhanced field‐aligned currents (FACs) and nearby particle precipitation. An HFA and associated high‐speed jets (HSJs) were observed in the corresponding magnetic local time (MLT) region of the magnetosheath. Our analysis indicates that the HFA disturbs the magnetopause and enhances the FACs, causing the localized ionospheric density gradient instability, thereby triggering the ionospheric scintillation. These results show that the particle precipitation caused by HFAs can strongly affect the cusp plasma and trigger significant phase scintillation. Our results provided direct observational evidence that HFAs are a contributing source of polar space‐weather impacts on GNSS and radio systems.
SN - 2576-604X
SN - 2576-604X
ER -