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First tsunami gravity wave detection in ionospheric radio occultation data

Journal Article · · Earth and Space Science
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1002/2014EA000054· OSTI ID:1212469
 [1];  [1];  [2];  [3]
  1. Université Paris Diderot, Paris (France). Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, Sorbonne Paris Cité.
  2. Université Paris Diderot, Paris (France). Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, Sorbonne Paris Cité; Now at Ecole Normale Superieure, Paris (France)
  3. Université Paris Diderot, Paris (France). Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, Sorbonne Paris Cité; Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Univ. de Nice, Nice (France). Now at OCA-GeoAzur.
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After the 11 March 2011 earthquake and tsunami off the coast of Tohoku, the ionospheric signature of the displacements induced in the overlying atmosphere has been observed by ground stations in various regions of the Pacific Ocean. We analyze here the data of radio occultation satellites, detecting the tsunami-driven gravity wave for the first time using a fully space-based ionospheric observation system. One satellite of the Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere and Climate (COSMIC) recorded an occultation in the region above the tsunami 2.5 h after the earthquake. The ionosphere was sounded from top to bottom, thus providing the vertical structure of the gravity wave excited by the tsunami propagation, observed as oscillations of the ionospheric Total Electron Content (TEC). The observed vertical wavelength was about 50 km, with maximum amplitude exceeding 1 total electron content unit when the occultation reached 200 km height. We compared the observations with synthetic data obtained by summation of the tsunami-coupled gravity normal modes of the Earth/Ocean/atmosphere system, which models the associated motion of the ionosphere plasma. These results provide experimental constraints on the attenuation of the gravity wave with altitude due to atmosphere viscosity, improving the understanding of the propagation of tsunami-driven gravity waves in the upper atmosphere. They demonstrate that the amplitude of the tsunami can be estimated to within 20% by the recorded ionospheric data.
Research Organization:
Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
Grant/Contract Number:
AC52-06NA25396
OSTI ID:
1212469
Journal Information:
Earth and Space Science, Journal Name: Earth and Space Science Journal Issue: 5 Vol. 2; ISSN 2333-5084
Publisher:
American Geophysical Union (AGU)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Cited By (9)

Tsunami Wave Height Estimation from GPS-Derived Ionospheric Data: GNSS IONOSPHERIC TSUNAMIMETER journal May 2018
Vertical Structure of the Ionospheric Response Following the Mw 7.9 Wenchuan Earthquake on 12 May 2008 journal April 2019
Fluctuations on vertical profiles of the ionospheric electron density perturbed by the March 11, 2011 M9.0 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami journal May 2019
Stratosphere Perturbed by the 2011 Mw9.0 Tohoku Earthquake journal October 2018
Physics-Based Modeling of Earthquake-Induced Ionospheric Disturbances journal September 2018
Climatology and Characteristics of Medium-Scale F Region Ionospheric Plasma Irregularities Observed by COSMIC Radio Occultation Receivers journal October 2018
Ionospheric Detection of Natural Hazards journal November 2019
Upper Atmospheric Responses to Surface Disturbances: An Observational Perspective journal November 2019
Tsunami modeling with solid Earth–ocean–atmosphere coupled normal modes journal August 2017

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