Ionospheric Disturbance Waves Generated by Rockets

C. H. Lin^1,2,*, J. T. Lin¹, C. H. Chen¹, J. Y. Liu^3,4, Y. Y. Sun^3,5, Y. Kakinami⁶, M. Matsumura⁷, W. H. Chen¹, H. Liu⁸, R. J. Rau¹

¹ Department of Earth Sciences, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan
² Earth Dynamic System Research Center, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan
³ Institute of Space Science, National Central University, Chung-Li, Taoyuan, Taiwan
⁴ National Space Organization, Hsinchu, Taiwan
⁵ CIRES, University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA
⁶ School of Systems Engineering, Kochi University of Technology, Kami, Kochi, Japan
⁷ National Institute of Polar Research, Research Organization of Information and Systems, Tokyo, Japan
⁸ Department of Earth and Planetary Science, Faculty of Science, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Kyushu, Japan

Similar to the bow and stern waves generated in the fluid (water surface for example) due to transition of an object, the upper atmospheric neutral density and ionospheric plasma could be disturbed by the rocket fly-by.  Using the dense ground-based GPS receiver network around East Asia, we observed disturbance wave signatures in the total electron contents (TECs) measured along the signal ray paths between the receivers and GPS satellites.  The V-shape shock wave signatures in GPS-TEC are seen for both 2009 North Korea (eastward trajectory) and 2013 South Korea (southward trajectory) rockets (Fig. 1).

Figure 1. Time evolutions of GPS-TEC for (a-f)2009年North Korea and (g-l)2013 South Korea rockets。

Further analysis of GPS-TEC disturbances by calculating the propagation velocities of TEC perturbations along the rectangular boxes in Fig. 1 indicates supersonic wave signatures for the both events (Fig. 2).  Extracted TEC disturbance waves of 100-600 sec period show 800-1200 m/s waves propagating perpendicular away from the rocket trajectories.  Moreover, the 20-minute delayed disturbance waves are observed in this study for the first time.  The delayed waves are likely coming from the disturbances of neutral atmosphere at lower altitude or earlier rocket flight stage.

Figure 2、Propagating velocities of TEC disturbace waves for (a-b) 2009 North Korea and (c-d) 2013 South Korea rockets.