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- Jun 12, 2018
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The ionosphere is apparently being blown about by the winds of the lower atmosphere. It was originally thought that the ionosphere was primarily influenced by forces such as solar winds, solar radiation, Earth's magnetic field, and large volcanic eruptions. The day to day weather had no real part to play in the activities of the ionosphere.
Severe surface disturbances like volcanic eruptions can propel dust temporarily into the ionosphere. Hurricanes and thunderstorms can radiate pressure waves into the ionosphere.
Satellite data from the GOLD Mission has provided observations showing that strange cloud-like formations are being created in the ionosphere when nothing known is happening in the upper atmosphere out in space, and nothing is happening on the ground.
The cloud-like formations or bubbles in the ionosphere are usually somewhat straight lines shaped by Earth's magnetic field but they can also look like X's and C's. These bubbles are composed of plasma particles which can block radio signals such as GPS signals. Transportation, commerce, and agriculture are big users of GPS signals. If the GPS signals are blocked this can cause navigation errors or operation shutdowns for agricultural machinery.
The C shaped clouds come in 2 orientations, facing left or facing right, one theory says that increasing or decreasing winds can determine which way the C formation clouds are facing. One pair of these opposite facing clouds were only 4 hundred miles apart, which makes it difficult to imagine what kind of weather pattern could do this. Speculation is that it could be some kind of vortex, wind shear, or tornado that could generate such a disturbance. The articles did not say at what altitude these weather events could be happening.
The X shaped clouds could be caused by plasma being pulled downward by some kind of activity in the lower atmosphere.
Other types of satellite provided information could also become temporarily blocked. Unlike when severe events happen, there are no known weather mechanisms originating on the surface during quiet times that would account for the formation of plasma bubbles in the ionosphere. Where the original disturbance that is forming plasma clouds in the ionosphere is coming from on clear, quiet days is not known.
Knowing how well the atmosphere can or can't carry digital signals is becoming important. It can be easily seen what happens on the ground when receiving digital TV signals. I use an outdoor antenna for digital TV and the number of channels keeps growing. Many times a new channel is a channel I am already getting, but that's okay. Digital TV reception is always dependent on the weather, when it's raining, it's easy to see why the signal fails. But on clear days some channels can still be blocked out. This is where the duplicate channels come in handy. Because the stations are in different towns, it's still possible to get a signal blocked on a clear day by tuning in the same channel from a different direction. That's not very practical when dealing with satellites.
Severe surface disturbances like volcanic eruptions can propel dust temporarily into the ionosphere. Hurricanes and thunderstorms can radiate pressure waves into the ionosphere.
Satellite data from the GOLD Mission has provided observations showing that strange cloud-like formations are being created in the ionosphere when nothing known is happening in the upper atmosphere out in space, and nothing is happening on the ground.
The cloud-like formations or bubbles in the ionosphere are usually somewhat straight lines shaped by Earth's magnetic field but they can also look like X's and C's. These bubbles are composed of plasma particles which can block radio signals such as GPS signals. Transportation, commerce, and agriculture are big users of GPS signals. If the GPS signals are blocked this can cause navigation errors or operation shutdowns for agricultural machinery.
The C shaped clouds come in 2 orientations, facing left or facing right, one theory says that increasing or decreasing winds can determine which way the C formation clouds are facing. One pair of these opposite facing clouds were only 4 hundred miles apart, which makes it difficult to imagine what kind of weather pattern could do this. Speculation is that it could be some kind of vortex, wind shear, or tornado that could generate such a disturbance. The articles did not say at what altitude these weather events could be happening.
The X shaped clouds could be caused by plasma being pulled downward by some kind of activity in the lower atmosphere.
Other types of satellite provided information could also become temporarily blocked. Unlike when severe events happen, there are no known weather mechanisms originating on the surface during quiet times that would account for the formation of plasma bubbles in the ionosphere. Where the original disturbance that is forming plasma clouds in the ionosphere is coming from on clear, quiet days is not known.
Knowing how well the atmosphere can or can't carry digital signals is becoming important. It can be easily seen what happens on the ground when receiving digital TV signals. I use an outdoor antenna for digital TV and the number of channels keeps growing. Many times a new channel is a channel I am already getting, but that's okay. Digital TV reception is always dependent on the weather, when it's raining, it's easy to see why the signal fails. But on clear days some channels can still be blocked out. This is where the duplicate channels come in handy. Because the stations are in different towns, it's still possible to get a signal blocked on a clear day by tuning in the same channel from a different direction. That's not very practical when dealing with satellites.
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