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This study presents a comprehensive observation of the large-scale traveling ionospheric disturbances (LSTIDs) in the eastern Asian sector during the 2015 St. Patrick's Day (17 March 2015) geomagnetic storm. For the first time, three dense networks of GPS receivers in China and Japan are combined together to obtain the two-dimensional (2-D) vertical total electron content (VTEC) perturbation maps in a wider longitudinal range than previous studies in this region. Results show that an LSTID spanning at least 60 ∘ in longitude (80–140 ∘ E) occurs as a result of possible atmospheric gravity waves (AGWs) propagating from high to lower latitudes at around 09:40–11:40 UT (universal time), and the crest of this LSTID shows a tendency of dissipation starting from the eastern side. The manifestation of the 2-D VTEC perturbation maps is in good agreement with the recordings from two high-frequency Doppler sounders and the iso-frequency lines from eight ionosondes. Then, the propagation parameters of the LSTIDs are estimated by applying least-square fitting methods to the distinct structures in the 2-D VTEC perturbation plots. In general, the propagation parameters are observably longitudinally dependent. For example, the propagation direction is almost due southward between 105 and 115 ∘ E, while it is slightly southwest and southeast in the western and eastern sides of this region. This feature is probably related to the regional geomagnetic declination. The mean values of the period, trough velocity (Vt), crest velocity (Vc), and wavelength of the LSTIDs in the studied longitudinal bands are 74.8±1.4 min, 578±16 m s -1 , 617±23 m s -1 , and 2691±80 km, respectively. Finally, using the VTEC map data from the Madrigal database of the MIT Haystack Observatory, the characteristics of the ionospheric disturbances over the European sector (30–70 ∘ N, 10–20 ∘ E) are also studied. The results are very different from those in the eastern Asian sector in parameters like the occurrence time, oscillation period, and propagation velocities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Han Chinese, Korean and Japanese are the main populations of East Asia, and Han Chinese presents a gradient admixture from north to south. There are differences among the East Asian populations in genetic structure. To achieve fine-scale genetic classification of southern (S-) and northern (N-) Han Chinese, Korean and Japanese individuals in this study, we collected and analyzed 1185 ancestry informative SNPs (AISNPs) from previous literature reports and our laboratory findings. First, two machine learning algorithms, softmax and randomForest, were used to build genetic classification models. Then, phylogenetic tree, STRUCTURE and principal component analysis were used to evaluate the performance of classification for different AISNP panels. The 234-AISNP panel achieved a fine-scale differentiation among the target populations in four classification schemes. The accuracy of the softmax model was 92%, which realized the accurate classification of the S-Han, N-Han, Korean and Japanese individuals. The two machine learning models tested in this study provided important references for the high-resolution discrimination of close-range populations and will be useful tools to optimize marker panels for developing forensic DNA ancestry inference systems.