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Background/aim: Few previous studies have evaluated the effectiveness of single-isocenter multitarget (SIMT) stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) in clinical practice., Patients and methods:Gross tumor volumes of 113 metastases in 13 patients were measured by contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging. Prescribed doses were set at 20-24 Gy. Based on tumor reduction rates (TRRs) measured before and after SIMT SRS, tumor shrinkage effect was categorized into four grades; almost disappeared: TRR=1, decreased: 0.3≤TRR, Results:Median survival time was 17 months, with 63.7%, 11.5% and 12.4% of metastases corresponded to almost disappeared, decreased and stable, respectively. No significant difference was found in the distribution for TRRs among 3 groups., Conclusion:Good local control of multiple brain metastases was demonstrated by SIMT SRS, irrespective of distance from the isocenter.

This paper reports that plasma density depletions appearing at middle latitudes near sunrise survived until afternoon on 29 May 2017 during the recovery phase of a geomagnetic storm. By analyzing GPS data collected in Japan, we investigate temporal variations in the horizontal two-dimensional distribution of total electron content (TEC) during the geomagnetic storm. The SYM-H index reached −142 nT around 08 UT on 28 May 2017. TEC depletions extending up to approximately 38°N along the meridional direction appeared over Japan around 05 LT (LT = UT + 9 hours) on 29 May 2017, when TEC rapidly increased at sunrise due to the solar extreme ultraviolet (EUV) radiation. The TEC depletions appeared sequentially over Japan for approximately 8 hours in sunlit conditions. At 06 LT on 29 May, when the plasma depletions first appeared over Japan, the background TEC was enhanced to approximately 17 TECU, and then decreased to approximately 80% of the TEC typical of magnetically quiet conditions. We conclude that this temporal variation of background plasma density in the ionosphere was responsible for the persistence of these plasma depletions for so long in daytime. By using the Naval Research Laboratory: Sami2 is Another Model of the Ionosphere (SAMI2), we have evaluated how plasma production and ambipolar diffusion along the magnetic field may affect the rate of plasma depletion disappearance. Simulation shows that the plasma density increases at the time of plasma depletion appearance; subsequent decreases in the plasma density appear to be responsible for the long-lasting persistence of plasma depletions during daytime. The plasma density depletion in the top side ionosphere is not filled by the plasma generated by the solar EUV productions because plasma production occurs mainly at the bottom side of the ionosphere.

In order to reveal solar activity dependence of the medium-scale traveling ionospheric disturbances (MSTIDs) at midlatitudes, total electron content (TEC) data obtained from a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver network in Japan during 22 years from 1998 to 2019 were analyzed. We have calculated the detrended TEC by subtracting the 1-h running average from the original TEC data for each satellite and receiver pair, and made two-dimensional TEC maps of the detrended TEC with a spatial resolution of 0.15° × 0.15° in longitude and latitude. We have investigated MSTID activity, defined as $$\delta I/\overline{I}$$ δ I / I ¯ , where $$\delta I$$ δ I and $$\overline{I}$$ I ¯ are standard deviation of the detrended TEC and the average vertical TEC within the area of 133.0°–137.0° E and 33.0°–37.0° N for 1 h, respectively. From each 2-h time series of the detrended TEC data within the same area as the MSTID activity, auto-correlation functions (ACFs) of the detrended TEC were calculated to estimate the horizontal propagation velocity and direction of the MSTIDs. Statistical results of the MSTID activity and propagation direction of MSTIDs were consistent with previous studies and support the idea that daytime MSTIDs could be caused by atmospheric gravity waves, and that nighttime MSTIDs were caused by electro-dynamical forces, such as the Perkins instability. From the current long-term observations, we have found that the nighttime MSTID activity and occurrence rate increased with decreasing solar activity. For the daytime MSTID, the occurrence rate increased with decreasing solar activity, whereas the MSTID activity did not show distinct solar activity dependence. These results suggest that the secondary gravity waves generated by dissipation of the primary gravity waves propagating from below increase under low solar activity conditions. The mean horizontal phase velocity of the MSTIDs during nighttime did not show a distinct solar activity dependence, whereas that during daytime showed an anticorrelation with solar activity. The horizontal phase velocity of the daytime MSTIDs was widely distributed from 40 to 180 m/s under high solar activity conditions, whereas it ranged between 80 and 200 m/s, with a maximum occurrence at 130 m/s under low solar activity conditions, suggesting that gravity waves with low phase velocity could be dissipated by high viscosity in the thermosphere under low solar activity conditions.

Simultaneous observations from a 630 nm all-sky airglow imager, GNSS-TEC receivers, and an ionosonde are used to investigate the role of E- and F-region coupling on the generation of medium-scale traveling ionospheric disturbances (MSTIDs). The primary observations are OI 630 nm airglow images taken by an all-sky imager in Kühlungsborn (54.07°N; 11.46°E, 53.79°N Mlat.), a site in northern Germany. Out of 226 nights of observations, MSTIDs were found only in 18 nights, demonstrating the low occurrence rate over Kühlungsborn. We focused on four MSTIDs events: two during the vernal equinox and two during summer. Coincident measurements of detrended GNSS-TEC supported the presence of MSTIDs during the selected events, and simultaneous observations from the ionosonde in Juliusruh (54.60°N, 13.4°E, 54.02°N Mlat.) showed sporadic-E (Es) layer and spread-F activity in the E- and F-region, respectively. We observed the onset of the observed MSTIDs to be around the 15°–20°E longitude and 60–45°N latitude belts. Additionally, we found that in each case, the onset of MSTIDs coincides with the presence of an Es layer with sporadic-E trace is observed (foEs) exceeding 4 MHz. This suggests that an Es layer with foEs ≥ 4MHz was a source of the generation of these MSTIDs. Altitude of the Es layer could be another important factor in generating MSTIDs. The Es layer should exist at an altitude where Hall conductivity is large, as happened in the present study.

We introduce a network observation of anomalous long-distance propagation of aeronautical navigation (NAV) very high-frequency (VHF) radio waves due to sporadic E layer (Es). The system has been operative since May 2019 at 6 stations in Japan. The receiver consists of a log-periodic antenna, air-band filter, software-defined radio and small computer which is capable of recording the strength of radio signals in the frequency band from 98 to 118 MHz with a temporal resolution of 2 s. The receiver covers not only the NAV band including VHF omnidirectional radio range (VOR), instrument landing system localizer (ILS LOC) and ground-based augmentation system VHF data broadcast (GBAS VDB) from 108 to 118 MHz, but also broadcasting channels from 98 to 108 MHz. Soon after the start of the full operation of the network observation, a strong Es event was detected by an ionosonde in Tokyo during the daytime on July 4, 2019, in which foEs (critical frequency of Es) was sometimes higher than 15 MHz. The VHF radio wave monitoring system detected multiple signatures of Es anomalous propagation (EsAP) at all the stations extending from Okinawa to Hokkaido. At some stations, the EsAP signatures continued for a few hours with some brief intervals of disappearance. The observed correspondence between the enhancement of foEs and the occurrence of anomalous propagation confirmed that an extreme electron density enhancement within Es caused the anomalous long-distance propagation of VHF NAV signals. The data from this network observation can be browsed at http://gwave.cei.uec.ac.jp/cgi-bin/vor/vhf.cgi in near real-time basis. This near real-time monitoring capability allows people in the aeronautical operation community such as air navigation service providers, pilots, and airline engineers to check the propagation environment of VHF NAV signals online, which contributes to a mitigation of ionospheric space weather impacts on the aeronautical navigation systems. Not only that the current method for detecting Es in a wide area can be used to visualize the spatial distribution of Es in two-dimensional fashion through a combination of other observation techniques such as ionosondes and total electron content (TEC) measurements using Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signals.

This work proposes a range spread-F (RSF) prediction model using the neural network (NN) over the equatorial Chumphon (CPN) region in Thailand. The RSF model is constructed by using five input spaces including the diurnal variations, seasonal variations, geographic latitude, solar flux index ( F 10.7 ), and magnetic index ( A p ). The RSF NN model is trained with three years of RSF data during 2013 to 2015 from Chumphon (CPN) station (Latitude = 10.7 ° N , Longitude = 99.4 ° E ) and the performance of the proposed RSF NN model is validated using the dataset of 2016. As a result, the RSF NN model achieves 98.3% accuracy of all correct predictions even with the limited available data. The results show that the proposed NN model yields a lower RSF probability than the actual observation by about 7.3%, but the overestimation of the proposed NN model is 2.5% in both the equinoxes and solstices. In addition, we discover that the IRI-2016 model mostly overestimates the RSF probability when compared with the actual observation for all seasons in 2016, particularly, in equinoctial months over Chumphon station.

Purpose:To monitor the outcomes for intermediate-risk prostate cancer patients treated with biologically effective dose (BED) ≥ 200 Gy radiotherapy using low-dose-rate (LDR) brachytherapy., Material and methods:Between 2005 and 2016, a total of 397 patients with intermediate-risk prostate cancer were treated by LDR-based radiotherapy with a BED ≥ 200 Gy. Treatments consisted of LDR brachytherapy alone (177 cases) or LDR and external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) (220 cases). Short-term androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) was used in 186 patients (46.9%). The median follow-up period was 72 months (range 29-165 months). Dosimetric parameters and BED were studied in each case. The numbers of intermediate-risk features were: 163 patients with 1 intermediate-risk feature (41%), 169 patients with 2 intermediate-risk features (43%), and 65 patients with 3 intermediate-risk features (16%). A total of 145 cases were diagnosed as having primary Gleason pattern 4: Gleason score 4 + 3 (36.5%)., Results:Three patients developed biochemical failure, thus providing a 7-year actual biochemical failure-free survival (BFFS) rate of 99.1%. Biochemical failure was observed exclusively in cases with distant metastasis: two cases with lymph node metastasis and one case with bone metastasis, thus yielding a 7-year freedom from clinical failure (FFCF) rate of 99.1%. We observed eight deaths, but there was no death from prostate cancer, thus yielding a 7-year cause-specific survival (CSS) rate of 100%, and an overall survival (OS) rate of 98.4%., Conclusions:This study highlights excellent outcomes for intermediate-risk prostate cancer patients, including unfavorable intermediate-risk cases, treated with BED ≥ 200 Gy radiotherapy using LDR brachytherapy. LDR alone with a BED of 200 Gy may be an optimal treatment for both favorable and unfavorable intermediate-risk prostate cancer patients, although a longer follow-up is mandatory to confirm the present findings.

The characteristics of global electron density variations in the ionosphere during a geomagnetic storm on 7 and 8 November 2004 were investigated using total electron content (TEC) obtained from the global navigation satellite system (GNSS). The regions of enhanced TEC over North America, Europe, and Japan first appeared in the middle‐latitude regions. The TEC enhancements over North America showed a rapid longitudinal expansion and reached a wide longitudinal extent during the initial and main phases of the geomagnetic storm. TEC enhancements were simultaneously observed in both North America and Japan at 05:00 UT on 8 November. Observation data from the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program showed a slight enhancement of electron density at 850 km below the equatorward boundary of the middle‐latitude trough (45–48°N in geomagnetic latitude) over the Pacific Ocean. This electron density variation may correspond to the TEC enhancements observed in both Japan and North America. These results imply that an enhanced TEC region existed between North America and Japan. The TEC enhancement in Japan appeared with a magnetic conjugacy in the Southern Hemisphere, indicating one of the characteristics of storm‐enhanced density (SED). Moreover, TEC enhancements simultaneously appeared from Japan to central Asia at 11:00 UT on 8 November, corresponding to the early recovery phase of the geomagnetic storm. From the above results, it is suggested that SED phenomena can be simultaneously generated over a wide longitudinal width (~100°). The longitudinal extent of this SED event is 2.5–5.0 times longer than those reported by previous studies., ファイル公開：2020-06-01

Relationship between the locations of the midlatitude trough minimum in the ionosphere and plasmapause in the inner magnetosphere has been statistically investigated using global navigation satellite system (GNSS)-total electron content (TEC) and electron density data obtained from the Arase satellite from March 23, 2017 to May 31, 2020. In this analysis, we identify the midlatitude trough minimum as a minimum value of GNSS-TEC at subauroral and midlatitude regions, and determine the plasmapause as an electron density decrease by a factor of 5 or more within ΔL < 0.5 in the inner magnetosphere. As a result, the plasmapause does not always coincide with the midlatitude trough minimum in all magnetic local time (MLT) sectors under all geomagnetic conditions. During the geomagnetically quiet periods, the midlatitude trough minimum is located at higher and lower geomagnetic latitudes (GMLATs) of the plasmapause in the MLT ranges of 5–21 and 21–5 h, respectively. This implies that both the features could not be on the same magnetic field line. On the other hand, during the storm main phase, the midlatitude trough minimum and plasmapause move toward a low-latitude region with day-night and dawn-dusk asymmetries and the correlation becomes highest, compared with that under other geomagnetic conditions. Especially, both the features mapped on the ionosphere at a height of 300 km exist near GMLAT in the afternoon-midnight sectors. This suggests that the midlatitude trough and plasmapause are formed at almost the same location due to an enhanced subauroral polarization stream during the storm main phase.

We attempted to reproduce the total electron content (TEC) variation in the Earth's atmosphere from the temporal variation of the solar flare spectrum of the X9.3 flare on September 6, 2017. The flare spectrum from the Flare Irradiance Spectral Model (FISM), and the flare spectrum from the 1D hydrodynamic model, which considers the physics of plasma in the flare loop, are used in the GAIA model, which is a simulation model of the Earth's whole atmosphere and ionosphere, to calculate the TEC difference. We then compared these results with the observed TEC. When we used the FISM flare spectrum, the difference in TEC from the background was in a good agreement with the observation. However, when the flare spectrum of the 1D-hydrodynamic model was used, the result varied depending on the presence or absence of the background. This difference depending on the models is considered to represent which extreme ultraviolet (EUV) radiation is primarily responsible for increasing TEC. From the flare spectrum obtained from these models and the calculation result of TEC fluctuation using GAIA, it is considered that the enhancement in EUV emission by approximately 15–35 nm mainly contributes in increasing TEC rather than that of X-ray emission, which is thought to be mainly responsible for sudden ionospheric disturbance. In addition, from the altitude/wavelength distribution of the ionization rate of Earth's atmosphere by GAIA (Ground-to-topside Atmosphere and Ionosphere model for Aeronomy), it was found that EUV radiation of approximately 15–35 nm affects a wide altitude range of 120–300 km, and TEC enhancement is mainly caused by the ionization of nitrogen molecules.

The constraint values of dose-volume histogram (DVH) parameters for radiation pneumonitis (RP) prediction have not been uniform in previous studies. We compared the differences between conventional DVH parameters and DVH parameters with high attenuation volume (HAV) in CT imaging in both esophageal cancer and lung cancer patients to determine the most suitable DVH parameters in predicting RP onset. Seventy-seven and 72 patients who underwent radiation therapy for lung cancer and esophageal cancer, respectively, were retrospectively assessed. RP was valued according to the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events. We quantified HAV with quantitative computed tomography analysis. We compared conventional DVH parameters and DVH parameters with HAV in both groups of patients. Then, the thresholds of DVH parameters that predicted symptomatic RP and the differences in threshold of DVH parameters between lung cancer and esophageal cancer patient groups were compared. The predictive performance of DVH parameters for symptomatic RP was compared using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve. Mean lung dose, HAV30% (the proportion of the lung with HAV receiving ≥30 Gy), and HAV20% were the top three parameters in lung cancer, while HAV10%, HAV5%, and V10 (the percentage of lung volume receiving 10 Gy or more) were the top three in esophageal cancer. By comparing the differences in the threshold for parameters predicting RP between the two cancers, we saw that HAV30% retained the same value in both cancers. DVH parameters with HAV showed narrow differences in the threshold between the two cancer patient groups compared to conventional DVH parameters. DVH parameters with HAV may have higher commonality than conventional DVH parameters in both patient groups tested.

We attempted to reproduce the total electron content (TEC) variation in the Earth's atmosphere from the temporal variation of the solar flare spectrum of the X9.3 flare on September 6, 2017. The flare spectrum from the Flare Irradiance Spectral Model (FISM), and the flare spectrum from the 1D hydrodynamic model, which considers the physics of plasma in the flare loop, are used in the GAIA model, which is a simulation model of the Earth's whole atmosphere and ionosphere, to calculate the TEC difference. We then compared these results with the observed TEC. When we used the FISM flare spectrum, the difference in TEC from the background was in a good agreement with the observation. However, when the flare spectrum of the 1D-hydrodynamic model was used, the result varied depending on the presence or absence of the background. This difference depending on the models is considered to represent which extreme ultraviolet (EUV) radiation is primarily responsible for increasing TEC. From the flare spectrum obtained from these models and the calculation result of TEC fluctuation using GAIA, it is considered that the enhancement in EUV emission by approximately 15–35 nm mainly contributes in increasing TEC rather than that of X-ray emission, which is thought to be mainly responsible for sudden ionospheric disturbance. In addition, from the altitude/wavelength distribution of the ionization rate of Earth's atmosphere by GAIA (Ground-to-topside atmosphere and ionosphere model for aeronomy), it was found that EUV radiation of approximately 15–35 nm affects a wide altitude range of 120–300 km, and TEC enhancement is mainly caused by the ionization of nitrogen molecules. (265 words)

This paper proposes an ionospheric storm scale (I-scale) for identifying the impact of geomagnetic or ionospheric storms in the Ionosphere for GNSS (global navigation satellite system) service and disaster prevention. The I-scale in this work is computed based on the observed foF2 at Chumphon station (10.72°N, 99.37°E) over equatorial latitude from January 2004 to July 2018. The results report that the severe geomagnetic storms, i.e., IP3 and IN3, seldom occur at Chumphon with the probabilities of 0.02% and 0.07%, respectively. The probability of quiet ionospheric condition is the maximum value of 70.73%. Meanwhile, the other I-scales sometimes occur and range from 0.60% to 13.97%. The benefits of the foF2-based I-scale are to indicate the violence level of geomagnetic storms and to announce the ionospheric irregularities in practice.

Two-dimensional ionospheric total electron content (TEC) maps have been derived from ground-based Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receiver networks and applied to studies of various ionospheric disturbances since the mid-1990s. For the purpose of monitoring and researching ionospheric conditions and ionospheric space weather phenomena, we have developed TEC maps of areas over Japan using the dense GNSS network, GNSS Earth Observation NETwork (GEONET), which consists of about 1300 stations and is operated by the Geospatial Information Authority of Japan (GSI). Currently, we are providing high-resolution, two-dimensional maps of absolute TEC, detrended TEC, rate of TEC change index (ROTI), and loss-of-lock on GPS signal over Japan on a real-time basis. Such high-resolution TEC maps using dense GNSS receiver networks are one of the most effective ways to observe, on a scale of several 100 km to 1000 km, ionospheric variations caused by traveling ionospheric disturbances and/or equatorial plasma bubbles, which can degrade single-frequency and differential GNSS positioning/navigation. We have collected all the available GNSS receiver data in the world to expand the TEC observation area. Currently, however, dense GNSS receiver networks are available in only limited areas, such as Japan, North America, and Europe. To expand the two-dimensional TEC observation with high resolution, we have conducted the Dense Regional and Worldwide International GNSS TEC observation (DRAWING-TEC) project, which is engaged in three activities: (1) standardizing GNSS-TEC data, (2) developing a new high-resolution TEC mapping technique, and (3) sharing the standardized TEC data or the information of GNSS receiver network. We have developed a new standardized TEC format, GNSS-TEC EXchange (GTEX), which is included in the Formatted Tables of ITU-R SG 3 Databanks related to Recommendation ITU-R P.311. Sharing the GTEX TEC data would be easier than sharing the GPS/GNSS data among those in the international ionospheric researcher community. The DRAWING-TEC project would promote studies of medium-scale ionospheric variations and their effect on GNSS.

The GNSS buoy system for early tsunami warnings has been under development for about 20 years. A small prototype buoy was first deployed in Sagami Bay, Japan, in 1997. Then, after a series of experiments aiming for operational use, the system was implemented as a part of national wave monitoring system NOWPHAS. The NOWPHAS system had set up more than 10 GNSS buoys around Japan by 2011, and it recorded the tsunami caused by the 11 March 2011 Tohoku-oki earthquake. The records were used to update the tsunami warning at the time of the 2011 Tohoku-oki earthquake. However, the buoys were placed less than 20 km from the coast, as the system used the baseline mode RTK-GPS algorithm, which was not far enough for effective evacuation of people. Thus, we began trying to improve the system by putting the buoys much farther from the coast. The new system employs a newly developed positioning algorithm, Precise Point Positioning with Ambiguity Resolution (PPP-AR), together with satellite data transmission. A series of experiments involving the new system successfully indicated changes in sea level with an accuracy of a few centimeters. Given the success of the experiments, we are trying to use the GNSS buoys not only to provide early tsunami warnings but also to monitor various other geohazards. For example, we are trying to use the GNSS-Acoustic system to continuously monitor crustal movements on the ocean floor, to monitor the ionosphere, and to monitor the atmosphere. Ancillary sensors on the buoys will be utilized for oceanographic monitoring as well.

Unexpected daytime F-region irregularities following the appearance of an ionospheric hole have been observed over low latitude. The irregularities developed initially above the F-region peak height (~ 360 km) with a thickness of about 30 km and an east-west extension of more than 200 km around 1057 LT and then expanded upward to 500 km altitude behaving like the equatorial spread-F (ESF) irregularities of the nighttime ionosphere. These daytime F-region irregularities cannot be explained on basis of an earlier suggestion that the F-region irregularities observed during daytime are the continuation of the irregularities initially generated on the previous night. Based on the coincidence, both in space and time, with the appearance of an ionospheric hole, which was generated after the passage of a rocket, we conclude that the daytime F-region irregularities must have been artificially generated locally through a manifestation of plasma instability triggered by the rocket exhaust-induced ionospheric hole over low latitude.

Background The risk factors for radiation pneumonitis (RP) in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are unclear. Mean lung dose (MLD) and percentage of irradiated lung volume are common predictors of RP, but the most accurate dosimetric parameter has not been established. We hypothesized that the total lung volume irradiated without emphysema would influence the onset of RP. Methods We retrospectively evaluated 100 patients who received radiotherapy for lung cancer. RP was graded according to the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (version 4.03). We quantified low attenuation volume (LAV) using quantitative computed tomography analysis. The association between RP and traditional dosimetric parameters including MLD, volume of the lung receiving a dose of ≥2 Gy, ≥ 5 Gy, ≥ 10 Gy, ≥ 20 Gy, and ≥30 Gy, and counterpart measurements of the lung without LAV, were analyzed by logistic regression. We compared each dosimetric parameter for RP using multiple predictive performance measures including area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) and integrated discrimination improvement (IDI). Results Of 100 patients, RP of Grades 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 was diagnosed in 24, 12, 13, 1, and 1 patients, respectively. Compared with traditional dosimetric parameters, counterpart measurements without LAV improved risk prediction of symptomatic RP. The ratio of the lung without LAV receiving ≥30 Gy to the total lung volume without LAV most accurately predicted symptomatic RP (AUC, 0.894; IDI, 0.064). Conclusion Irradiated lung volume without LAV predicted RP more accurately than traditional dosimetric parameters. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s13014-017-0891-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

This paper proposes a new expression for computing the bottomside thickness parameter at equatorial latitude station, Chumphon (10.72°N, 99.37°E), Thailand. Its diurnal variations from 2004 to 2006 at this location are then studied. The proposed expression is derived based on two experimental data sources: FMCW ionosonde and dual-frequency GPS system, and some expressions of the NeQuick 2 model. Hence, after both the bottomside thickness parameter computed by the proposed equation, B2bot_Pro, and the bottomside shape parameter (namely, B1_Pro in this work) are computed, the bottomside electron density and the height where the bottomside electron density drops down to be 24% of the NmF2 (namely, h0.24) can be computed and shown in this work using the analytical functions of the IRI model. Moreover, the diurnal variations of the B2bot_Pro are compared with those computed from the NeQuick model, B2bot_NeQ, and the predicted B0 of the IRI-2012 model with ABT-2009 and Bil-2000 options (namely, “B0_ABT” and “B0_Bil”, respectively). The averaged, minimum, and maximum values of percentage deviations among these bottomside thickness parameters are also computed and shown in this work. Our results show that the diurnal variations of B2bot_Pro at Chumphon station have the following patterns: they start to increase during nighttime to the first peaks during pre-sunrise hours, and then decrease abruptly to their minimum values during sunrise hours. Afterward, they increase again to reach the second peaks around local noontime and fall gradually to their starting times during 20–04 LT. The diurnal variations of B2bot_Pro follow generally the same trends as those of the B2bot_NeQ and the B0_ABT, except pre-sunrise hours. The pre-sunrise peaks and sunrise collapses in both the B2bot_NeQ and the B0_ABT can be found occasionally. On the other hand, the diurnal variations in B2bot_Pro differ from those in B0_Bil due to the flattened variation in B0_Bil and the pre-sunrise peaks as well as sunrise collapses in B0_Bil disappear. The pre-sunrise peaks of the B2bot_Pro at the Chumphon station are higher than those of the B2bot_NeQ, the B0_ABT, and the observed B0 at other regions. Furthermore, the percentage deviations between the B2bot_Pro and the B0_ABT (PD_B2B0ABT) are mostly lower than 30% for all seasons of the studied years, opposite to the other percentage deviations studied in this work. The proposed B2bot_Pro parameters in this work follow a similar trend to the B2bot_NeQ and the B0_ABT, but it is not conclusive that the proposed values are equivalent to them.

It is well-known that the equatorial anomaly at equatorial and low latitudes is caused by the fountain effect, therefore, the modeling of topside electron density profiles (EDPs) and the knowledge of electron density distribution in the region are particular challenging. Chumphon station, Thailand, is located within this region. However, at this station, since only an FMCW ionosonde system is installed, the topside EDP cannot be automatically obtained. Therefore, in this work, the topside EDPs are derived using the NeQuick topside formulation of the NeQuick 2 model (namely, NeQuick-derived topside EDPs) and then compared with those of three options of the IRI-2012 model including NeQuick, IRI01-corr, and IRI2001 options. The results show that, at Chumphon station, the NeQuick-derived topside EDPs are generally closer to the topside EDPs of IRI01-corr option in winter season and the topside EDPs of NeQuick option in equinox and summer seasons. When analyzing the topside TEC values obtained from each profile and the IGS TEC, it is found that the topside TEC values integrated from NeQuick-derived topside EDPs and predicted by both IRI01-corr and IRI-2001 options of the IRI-2012 model are sometimes higher than the IGS TEC values observed at Chumphon. In addition, we study the diurnal variations of the scale height computed from NeQuick topside formulation (Hsc), hmF2 and foF2 parameters. The correlation of Hsc with the parameters hmF2 and the bottomside thickness parameter of NeQuick model (B2bot). The computed Hsc values during daytime are lower than those during nighttime and they show non-linear correlations with hmF2 and B2bot. The main cause of these discrepancies are possibly due to the B2bot expressions used to compute the Hsc.

The ionospheric peak height in the F layer (hmF2) varies with not only thermospheric conditions but also dynamic processes in the upper atmosphere. At mid-latitudes, the field-aligned diffusion and recombination loss determine the hmF2 in the absence of applied vertical drift. Vertical drifts displace the hmF2 to a new equilibrium position in conjunction with the field-aligned redistribution of the plasma. In the vicinity of the magnetic equator, however, the equilibrium state would be different from low and mid-latitudes because the direct vertical coupling of plasma through the diffusion process is not allowed. Thus the behavior of hmF2 cannot be simply an extrapolation of that at low latitudes. In this paper, ionosonde measurements of the hmF2 near the magnetic equator and off-equatorial latitudes are compared with the IRI output.

Lapisan ionosfera berhampiran kawasan khatulistiwa geomagnetik sering terdedah kepada gangguan pada waktu malam yang dikenali sebagai gelembung plasma (PBB). Kehadiran PBB boleh meningkatkan kadar perubahan amplitud dan fasa isyarat radio yang melaluinya dan memberi kesan terhadap sistem komunikasi dan navigasi. PBB biasanya terjadi secara berturutan dengan satu demi satu struktur muncul pada waktu senja. Walau bagaimanapun, waktu dan lokasi kemunculan PBB tidak dapat diramal kerana punca awal pembentukannya masih belum dikenal pasti. Walaupun pelbagai peralatan telah dibangunkan untuk mencerap PBB, namun setiap alat pengukuran dibataskan oleh resolusi ruang dan masa. Dalam kajian ini, struktur PBB dalam dua dimensi (2D) dicerap menggunakan rangkaian penerima GPS dengan kepadatan yang tinggi di Asia Tenggara. Data GPS dikumpulkan daripada 127 stesen penerima dengan jarak sekitar 30 hingga 120 km di antara satu sama lain. Jumlah kandungan elektron (TEC) diperoleh berdasarkan perbezaan antara dua isyarat yang dipancarkan oleh setiap satelit GPS. Kehadiran PBB dikesan menggunakan indeks kadar perubahan TEC (ROTI) bagi semua laluan isyarat dari satelit kepada penerima. Struktur 2D PBB diperoleh dengan mempuratakan data GPS ROTI ke dalam grid bersaiz 0.45o latitud × 0.45o longitud dan dipetakan pada ketinggian 300 km. Kajian kes pada malam 18 Mac 2011 menunjukkan kemunculan enam struktur PBB yang berturutan pada waktu senja apeks di sepanjang longitud 95oT hingga 120oT. Struktur-struktur PBB tersebut muncul dengan jarak di antara 100 hingga 550 km. Jarak kemunculan sturuktur PBB memainkan peranan penting dalam menentukan punca pembentukannya yang dipercayai berbentuk seakan gelombang.

This paper presents the development of Neural Network (NN) model for the prediction of the F2 layer critical frequency (foF2) at three ionosonde stations near the magnetic equator of Southeast Asia. Two of these stations including Chiang Mai (18.76°N, 98.93°E, dip angle 12.7°N) and Kototabang (0.2°S, 100.3°E, dip angle 10.1°S) are at the conjugate points while Chumphon (10.72°N, 99.37°E, dip angle 3.0°N) station is near the equator. To produce the model, the feed forward network with backpropagation algorithm is applied. The NN is trained with the daily hourly values of foF2 during 2004–2012, except 2009, and the selected input parameters, which affect the foF2 variability, include day number (DN), hour number (HR), solar zenith angle (C), geographic latitude ( θ ), magnetic inclination (I), magnetic declination (D) and angle of meridian (M) relative to the sub-solar point, the 7-day mean of F10.7 (F10.7_7), the 81-day mean of SSN (SSN_81) and the 2-day mean of Ap (Ap_2). The foF2 data of 2009 and 2013 are then used for testing the NN model during the foF2 interpolation and extrapolation, respectively. To examine the performance of the proposed NN, the root mean square error (RMSE) of the observed foF2, the proposed NN model and the IRI-2012 (CCIR and URSI options) model are compared. In general, the results show the same trends in foF2 variation between the models (NN and IRI-2012) and the observations in that they are higher during the day and lower at night. Besides, the results demonstrate that the proposed NN model can predict the foF2 values more closely during daytime than during nighttime as supported by the lower RMSE values during daytime (0.5 ≤ RMSE ≤ 1.0 for Chumphon and Kototabang, 0.7 ≤ RMSE ≤ 1.2 at Chiang Mai) and with the highest levels during nighttime (0.8 ≤ RMSE ≤ 1.5 for Chumphon and Kototabang, 1.2 ≤ RMSE ≤ 2.0 at Chiang Mai). Furthermore, the NN model predicts the foF2 values more accurately than the IRI model at the three sites on average, as clearly seen on the yearly RMSE averages. The RMSE values of NN model are lower than those of both CCIR and URSI options, and in terms of the yearly percentage improvements, the NN model gives improvement of around 10–15% in 2009 and 10% in 2013 for Chiang Mai, 20–25% in 2009 and 5–10% in 2013 for Chumphon, and around 18–25% in 2009 and 20–30% in 2013 at Kototabang. Although the NN model predicts the foF2 values closely to the observed data and produces more accurate prediction than the IRI models, in some cases, the IRI model performs better than the NN model. Hence, there is still room for further improvement of the proposed NN model.

The occurrence rate of the equatorial plasma bubble (EPB) with season, solar activity, and geomagnetic conditions are investigated using long-term data sets of Malaysia Real-Time Kinematics Network (MyRTKnet) from 2008 to 2013. The rate of TEC (total electron content) change index (ROTI) in 5 min was derived from MyRTKnet data to detect the EPB with scale sizes around tens of kilometers. Then, the daily east-west cross sections of 2-D ROTI maps were used to examine the EPB features over 100°E–119°E longitudes. The EPBs tend to occur successively in one night along the observational coverage of MyRTKnet during equinoxes in high solar activity years. The perturbations in a form of wavelike structures along the observed longitudes might be responsible for the development of successive EPBs due to high growth rate of the Rayleigh-Taylor instability (RTI) process. On the contrary, the occurrence of successive EPBs is infrequent and the occurrence day of EPB remains active during equinoctial months in low solar activity years. The small growth rate of the RTI process during low solar activity years might require a strong seed perturbation to generate the EPB structure. The occurrence probability of the EPB was found to be similar during quiet and disturbed geomagnetic conditions. The results imply that the strong perturbations play an important role in the development of the EPB in low solar activity years. Nonetheless, the high growth rate of the RTI could cause the successive occurrence of the EPB in high solar activity years.

In this paper, we propose the I-scale, a new ionospheric storm scale for general users in various regions in the world. With the I-scale, ionospheric storms can be classified at any season, local time, and location. Since the ionospheric condition largely depends on many factors such as solar irradiance, energy input from the magnetosphere, and lower atmospheric activity, it had been difficult to scale ionospheric storms, which are mainly caused by solar and geomagnetic activities. In this study, statistical analysis was carried out for total electron content (TEC) and F2 layer critical frequency (foF2) in Japan for 18 years from 1997 to 2014. Seasonal, local time, and latitudinal dependences of TEC and foF2 variabilities are excluded by normalizing each percentage variation using their statistical standard deviations. The I-scale is defined by setting thresholds to the normalized numbers to seven categories: I0, IP1, IP2, IP3, IN1, IN2, and IN3. I0 represents a quiet state, and IP1 (IN1), IP2 (IN2), and IP3 (IN3) represent moderate, strong, and severe positive (negative) storms, respectively. The proposed I-scale can be used for other locations, such as polar and equatorial regions. It is considered that the proposed I-scale can be a standardized scale to help the users to assess the impact of space weather on their systems.