Driving the mid-latitude ionosphere from below: A statistical study using LOFAR
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: The Low Frequency Array (LOFAR) is one of the most advanced radio telescopes in the world. When radio waves from a distant astronomical source traverse the ionosphere, structures in this plasma affect the signal. Results are presented from a statistical study using 2,810 hours of observations of Cassiopeia A from a LOFAR station located in the Netherlands (station CS032, located at 52.9° N; 6.9° E) between 28th June 2014 and 27th November 2016. Ionospheric structures were identified in 469 (~17 %) of these observations. A comparison with proxies for geomagnetic activity (the K p index) and solar activity (the F10.7 cm solar radio flux) showed that geomagnetic or solar effects were not the primary driver of these ionospheric structures. Ionospheric structures were more common in summer and between ~21 LT and 02 LT. These patterns in season and local time showed similarities to the occurrence of lightning strikes. When ionospheric structures were present, the mean number of lightning strikes in a spatial region close to the LOFAR observations (51.9° – 56.5° N; 3.9° – 9.9° E) two hours prior to the LOFAR observations was (70 ± 25) per hour. This was substantially larger than the mean value of (19 ± 5) per hour when the ionospheric structures were absent. This suggests that quasi-upward propagating Atmospheric Gravity Waves (AGWs) launched by thunderstorm activity could be one of the sources of the ionospheric structures. Collectively, these observations show that LOFAR can be used to infer ionospheric signatures of vertical coupling processes in the mid-latitude atmosphere. Such observations have the potential to be used to develop or validate existing Global Circulation Models (GCMs) or new models of vertical coupling within the terrestrial atmosphere.
DOI: 10.1051/swsc/2026023
Authors: Alan G. Wood, Maaijke Mevius, Richard A. Fallows, Juliana Jaen, Gareth D. Dorrian, Ben Boyde, Katarzyna Beser, Pietro Zucca, Mattia Mancini, Corwin J. Wright, Neil P. Hindley, Carsten Schmidt, Jaroslav Urbář, Michael Bittner, Mario Bisi, Leszek Blaszkiewicz, Tobia D. Carozzi, Claudio Cesaroni, Agata Chuchra, Jaroslav Chum, Helena Ciechowska, Bartosz Dabrowski, Sean Elvidge, Pawel Flisek, Biagio Forte, Martin Füllekrug, Rebecca Ghidoni, Patrick Hannawald, Edmund Henley, David Jackson, Rosie Johnson, Kacper Kotulak, Petra Koucká Knížová, Mark Kuiack, Andrzej Krankowski, Lisa Küchelbacher, Šimon Mackovjak, Barbara Matyjasiak, Mariusz Pożoga, Thi Phung, Dorota Przepiórka, Yuriy G. Rapoport, Hanna Rothkaehl, Luca Spogli, Jānis Šteinbergs, Claudia Stolle, Lukasz Tomasik, Vladimír Truhlík, Ralph Wijers, Sabine Wüst
Institutions: Met Office, University of Birmingham, University of Groningen, Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Science and Technology Facilities Council, University of Bath, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e. V. (DLR), Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Chalmers University of Technology, Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Centrum Badań Kosmicznych, Polish Academy of Sciences, Aberystwyth University, University of Amsterdam, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Institute of Experimental Physics of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, Riga Technical University, Ventspils University of Applied Sciences, Leibniz Institute of Atmospheric Physics at the Rostock University, University of Rostock
Language: English
Subfield: Astronomy and Astrophysics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
SDG: Climate action
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $1,413
Funders: European Space Agency, Leverhulme Trust, Royal Society, University of Leeds, Met Office, Science Foundation Ireland, Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung, Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, Narodowym Centrum Nauki, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Université d'Orléans, Ministerium für Innovation, Wissenschaft und Forschung des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen, Bayerisches Staatsministerium für Umwelt und Verbraucherschutz, Observatoire de Paris, Université de Recherche Paris Sciences et Lettres, Natural Environment Research Council, Science and Technology Facilities Council
Awards: Relativistic Electron Beams Above Thunderclouds, G1905729650, Radio Tomography for Atmospheric Science, Space Weather Instrumentation, Measurement, Modelling and Risk: Ionosphere (SWIMMR-I), MesoS2D:Mesospheric sub-seasonal to decadal predictability, DRivers and Impacts of Ionospheric Variability with EISCAT-3D (DRIIVE), EISCAT_3D: Fine-scale structuring, scintillation, and electrodynamics (FINESSE), G4032909954, G4136375831, EISCAT_3D: Fine-scale structuring, scintillation, and electrodynamics (FINESSE), G4649399523, G472654145, G521362929, G5308898452, Searching for Upper Atmospheric Waves at the Edge of Space (SURGE), Space weather disruptions to satellite navigation and telecommunications: ionospheric scintillation, DRivers and Impacts of Ionospheric Variability with EISCAT-3D (DRIIVE), G7601144140, G7832724900, EISCAT_3D FINESSE: Fine-scale Structuring, Scintillation, and Electrodynamics, G7892596602, TEAMx-FLOW: Flow Dynamics, Scale Interactions and Mountain Waves for TEAMx-UK, G858486814, G8610288041
OpenAlex ID: W7163135166