EISCAT Observation of Wave-Like Fluctuations in Vertical Velocity of Polar Mesospheric Summer Echoes Associated With a Geomagnetic Disturbance

By analyzing a data set from the European Incoherent SCATter (EISCAT) Very High Frequency (VHF) radar at Tromso, we find that both radar reflectivity and upward ion velocity in a polar mesospheric summer echo (PMSE) layer simultaneously increased at the commencement of a local geomagnetic disturbance, which occurred at midnight on 9 July 2013. The onset of the upward velocity was followed by periodic repetition of similar to 5 min during the initial 30-min stage, and then at later stage the vertical velocity oscillated with similar to 7-and similar to 20-min periodicities at 85-to 90-km altitudes. The similar to 5-min periodicity is close to the buoyancy period, and the similar to 7-and similar to 20min periodicities are consistent with gravity waves, thus suggesting that gravity waves can be generated by the effects of the geomagnetic disturbance. On the other hand, the variation of PMSE intensity (85-90 km) was in phase with fluctuations of electron densities (90-110 km) with similar to 12-and similar to 13-min periodicities at the initial and later stages, respectively. The initial creation of PMSE can be attributed to both the sudden onset of particle precipitation and ice particles produced by adiabatic cooling during the rapid updraft, as detected by large upward velocity. Our periodogram analysis suggests that variations of PMSE intensity seem to follow the same periods with E region electron density, which is moduled by energetic electron precipitation, while vertical velocity oscillates at atmospheric gravity wave periods.