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In June 2014, a number of meteotsunamis were detected in the Mediterranean and Black Sea area. These meteotsunamis were initiated by a unique high-altitude dynamical system which was initially originated above Spain and traveled across the Mediterranean Sea towards Black Sea and Turkey. Meteotsunamis unlike tsunamis driven by strong earthquakes are local events, and their formation has different mechanism. Atmospheric internal gravity waves (IGWs) are one of the main known sources of meteotsunamis (e.g. Vilibić et al. in Pure Appl Geophys 165:2169–2195, 2008). The synoptic system produced short-lived and small-scale atmospheric pressure perturbations which drifted with the jet stream-like bubbles and generated tsunami-like waves in the open waters. The bubbles with typical dimensions 15–60 km continuously form and collapse in the atmosphere at altitudes of 3–6 km. Such a "boiled" atmosphere generated IGWs propagating both downward, where they produced meteotsunamis (presumably under Proudman resonance condition) and upward into the ionosphere, with following dissipation and excitation of plasma density perturbations. One of the few experimental techniques, which can monitor perturbations of the ionization within the lower ionosphere, uses long-wave probing by very low and low frequency (VLF/LF) radio signals. To study the ionospheric disturbances observed during the chain of meteotsunamis affecting the Mediterranean Sea, we used VLF/LF data collected in South Europe by "The International Network for Frontier Research on Earthquake Precursors". By applying the spectral analysis method to the anomalous VLF/LF signals, it was found that revealed periods of the signal variations were from 10 to 40–70 min in different stations, which are in the range of the atmospheric pressure oscillations and the meteotsunami events. These periods also correspond to the periods of IGWs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diagnostics of the outer envelopes of the Earth through global satellite navigational systems and through the equally global network of ground receivers and very-low-frequency transmitters make it possible to explore fairly complex processes of lithosphere–ionosphere interactions. The effects of earthquakes and tsunamis on the ionosphere are an example of these processes. A brief review of the current advances in studying these processes is presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The analyzed amplitude and phase variations in electromagnetic VLF and LF signals at 20-45 kHz, received in Moscow, Graz (Austria), and Sheffield (UK) during the total solar eclipse of March 20, 2015, are considered. The 22 analyzed paths have lengths of 200-6100 km, are differently oriented, and cross 40-100% occultation regions. Fifteen paths crossed the region where the occultation varied from 40 to 90%. Solar eclipse effects were found only on one of these paths in the signal phase (-50°). Four long paths crossed the 90-100% occultation region, and signal amplitude and phase anomalies were detected for all four paths. Negative phase anomalies varied from-75° to-90°, and the amplitude anomalies were both positive and negative and were not larger than 5 dB. It was shown that the effective height of the ionosphere varied from 6.5 to 11 km during the eclipse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we suggest a technique for forecasting seismic events based on the very low and low frequency (VLF and LF) signals in the 10 to 50 Hz band using the neural network approach, specifically, the error back-propagation method (EBPM). In this method, the solution of the problem has two main stages: training and recognition (forecasting). The training set is constructed from the combined data, including the amplitudes and phases of the VLF/LF signals measured in the monitoring of the Kuril-Kamchatka region and the corresponding parameters of regional seismicity. Training the neural network establishes the internal relationship between the characteristic changes in the VLF/LF signals a few days before a seismic event and the corresponding level of seismicity. The trained neural network is then applied in a prognostic mode for automated detection of the anomalous changes in the signal which are associated with seismic activity exceeding the assumed threshold level. By the example of several time intervals in 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007, we demonstrate the efficiency of the neural network approach in the short-term forecasting of earthquakes with magnitudes starting from M ≥ 5.5 from the nighttime variations in the amplitudes and phases of the LF signals on one radio path. We also discuss the results of the simultaneous analysis of the VLF/LF data measured on two partially overlapping paths aimed at revealing the correlations between the nighttime variations in the amplitude of the signal and seismic activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

VLF/LF signal variations at midlatitude, midlatitudelow-latitude, and low-latitude Far East paths related to an unusually strong gamma-ray flare from magnetar SGR 1806-20 were analyzed. Amplitude and phase anomalies were detected for all four signals received in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatski. The flare reached the Earth on December 27, 2004, at 2130:26.5 UT. Since the station signals are registered with a time resolution of 20 s, the anomalies corresponded to a much less intense oscillating 'tail' rather than to an initially powerful flare impulse. It has been found that the anomaly character and value strongly differ on the considered paths. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two methods for diagnosing ionospheric disturbances using VLF signals received on the DEMETER satellite are considered in connection with two cases of high seismic activity: the method for analyzing a signal reception zone in order to find large-scale spatial variations and the residual signal method used to reveal time variations. Based on an analysis of the VLF signal reception zone, performed in connection with the catastrophic earthquake near Sumatra, it has been found out that the signal amplitude decreased during a month before the earthquake. As a result, it has been concluded that the zone of ionospheric disturbances extends for several thousand kilometers. It has been indicated that the residual signal method showed good agreement between the ground and satellite data when high seismic activity near Japan was analyzed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]