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Real-Time Detection of Tornado-Induced Ionospheric Disturbances by Stand-Alone GNSS Receiver

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Extreme Natural Events

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Abstract

Mesoscale atmospheric events, e.g. deep tropical convection, thunderstorms, tropical cyclones, tropospheric jet, typhoons and tornadoes, are generally associated with upward propagating gravity waves and intense variation in electric fields, which may disturb the upper atmosphere. Here, we present a compelling case of variation in the total electron content (TEC) in the ionosphere induced by tornados that occurred over the city of Oklahoma, United States of America. Observations from global navigation satellite system (GNSS) sites indicate a variation in total electron content of about 0.1–0.35 ± 0.024 TECU (1 TECU = 1016 electrons/m2) during the occurrence of tornadoes. The variation in TEC has directly correlated with the intensity of lightning and the severity of the convective system. The TEC anomaly propagated at an apparent speed of ~0.165 m/s. We argued that the rate of change of electron density in the ionosphere is linked with the generation of atmospheric gravity waves, along with the duration and amplitude of lightning, associated with the convective events.

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Acknowledgements

Geodetic data from the Oklahoma region are maintained by the Earth Scope Plate Boundary Observatory (PBO), available at UNAVCO (ftp://data-out.unavco.org/pub/rinex/). All data supporting the conclusions of this paper are presented in the text and figures. DP and BS are supported by NITR Research Fellowship. Some of the figures were plotted using Generic Map** Tools. The TEC processing of RINEX datasets have been performed using software GPS-TEC program, Version 2.9.5 (http://seemala.blogspot.com/), developed by Gopi Krishna Seemala, Indian Institute of Geomagnetism (IIG). We thank the editor and anonymous reviewer for their constructive comments, which improved the quality of the manuscript.

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  1. Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, NIT Rourkela, Rourkela, 769008, India

    Batakrushna Senapati, Dibyashakti Panda, Bhaskar Kundu & Bhishma Tyagi

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  1. Batakrushna Senapati
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  2. Dibyashakti Panda
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Correspondence to Bhaskar Kundu .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Physical Oceanography Division, CSIR-National Institute of Oceanography, Dona Paula, Goa, India

    A.S. Unnikrishnan

  2. Department of Earth Sciences and Environment, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia

    Fredolin Tangang

  3. School of Geosciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa

    Raymond J. Durrheim

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Senapati, B., Panda, D., Kundu, B., Tyagi, B. (2022). Real-Time Detection of Tornado-Induced Ionospheric Disturbances by Stand-Alone GNSS Receiver. In: Unnikrishnan, A., Tangang, F., Durrheim, R.J. (eds) Extreme Natural Events. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-2511-5_8

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