Abstract An uninterrupted multi-day (6–8 May 2013) ionospheric F-region event with features indicative of medium-scale traveling ionospheric disturbances (MSTIDs) was detected with the Millstone Hill (MH) incoherent scatter radar (ISR). It was later identified, with the addition of Global Positioning System total electron content (GPS-TEC) imaging, as a novel ionospheric phenomenon. This phenomenon is herein termed as a semi-coherent ionospheric pulsing structure (SCIPS). The presumptive-MSTIDs in this multi-day event had a ∼1 h period and were observed during calm-to-minor geomagnetic conditions using both the vertical-looking (Zenith) and steerable (Millstone Hill Steerable Antenna, or MISA) MH ISR systems. To image the MH MSTID events on a larger horizontal scale than is possible with ISR systems alone, a dense network of GPS TEC receivers was leveraged. The ISR-observed event was located in the GPS-TEC data geographically centered on the MH location with a ∼100 km resolution (pixel size). However, keogram analysis of the GPS-TEC data revealed that the event had coherency across the continental United States. The same technique additionally exposed similar events occurring globally throughout the observing period. Our multi-instrument approach allows us to conclude that the event was a large-scale and continuously forced, semi-coherent ionospheric pulsing structure (SCIPS) that masqueraded as MSTIDs when viewed locally. The GPS-TEC images show that the SCIPS was stationary in longitude on a global scale, but appeared to propagate in a southward direction in the Northern Hemisphere. It was not possible to obtain direct imaging in the southern hemisphere due to the smaller number of receivers. The SCIPS appear to originate at high latitudes and, in several instances, were coherent across over 10,000 km. The apparent high latitude source location, ubiquity, and large-scale coherence of the SCIPS suggests unexpected impulsive auroral oval sources containing enough energy to continually force the observed MSTID-like structures even during low geomagnetic activity periods.

中文翻译：

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SCIPS 多仪器观测： 1. ISR 和 GPS TEC 结果

摘要 使用磨石山 (MH) 非相干散射雷达 (ISR) 检测到一个不间断的多日（2013 年 5 月 6 日至 8 日）电离层 F 区事件，其特征表明中尺度行进电离层扰动 (MSTID)。后来随着全球定位系统总电子含量 (GPS-TEC) 成像的加入，它被确定为一种新的电离层现象。这种现象在本文中被称为半相干电离层脉冲结构（SCIPS）。在这个多日事件中推定的 MSTID 有大约 1 小时的周期，并在从平静到轻微地磁条件下使用垂直（Zenith）和可操纵（Millstone Hill Steerable Antenna，或 MISA）MH ISR 系统观察到. 为了在比单独使用 ISR 系统更大的水平尺度上对 MH MSTID 事件进行成像，利用了密集的 GPS TEC 接收器网络。ISR 观测到的事件位于地理上以 MH 位置为中心的 GPS-TEC 数据中，分辨率约为 100 公里（像素大小）。然而，对 GPS-TEC 数据的 keogram 分析表明，该事件在美国大陆具有一致性。同样的技术还暴露了在整个观测期间全球发生的类似事件。我们的多仪器方法使我们能够得出结论，该事件是一个大规模且持续受迫的半相干电离层脉冲结构 (SCIPS)，在本地观察时伪装成 MSTID。GPS-TEC 图像显示 SCIPS 在全球范围内在经度上是静止的，但在北半球似乎向南传播。由于接收器数量较少，无法在南半球获得直接成像。SCIPS 似乎起源于高纬度地区，并且在一些情况下，在超过 10,000 公里的范围内是一致的。SCIPS 的明显高纬度源位置、普遍性和大规模相干性表明，即使在低地磁活动期间，也存在意外的脉冲极光椭圆形源，其中包含足够的能量来持续推动观察到的类 MSTID 结构。