Research Projects

Earth’s Ionosphere is part of the upper atmosphere region with sufficient charged particles. The importance of the Ionosphere is it dramatically influences the radio wave communication systems. The structure and dynamics of the Ionosphere are highly variable. The key factors which affect the ionospheric behaviour are (1) forcing from above, like solar activity, and geomagnetic storms (ii) forcing from below, like tropical cyclones. It is well known that space weather events significantly influence spacecraft controls and satellite navigations. The meteorological events may also impact the Ionosphere by generating atmospheric waves ranging from small-scale acoustic waves with periods ranging from minutes to large-scale planetary waves. Though the researchers extensively studied the ionospheric response to tropospheric meteorological events in past years. Still, the impact of meteorological events on the Ionosphere is complex morphology. This project investigates the ionospheric response to meteorological events. Tropical cyclones or hurricanes are the most significant meteorological disturbance having extreme winds with organized convective systems. The objective of this study is (i) To investigate the ionospheric response to meteorological events- tropical cyclones (ii) To understand the ionospheric variability due to meteorological events. (iii) To examine the atmospheric gravity and planetary wave propagation into ionospheric heights. (iv) To strengthen the Tropical cyclones – Ionosphere coupling mechanism. The proposed work utilizes data from the open archives ionosonde network, DIDB database, and ECMWF ERA 5 reanalysis, Cyclone, and oceanic data from the Indian meteorological department. In addition, a dual-frequency GPS receiver is in continuous operation at Anna University, supported and maintained by National Atmospheric Research Laboratory, ISRO, Gadanki.

Atmosphere - Ionosphere, Tropical Cyclone, Gravity Waves, coupling