Tonga eruption-induced disturbances in lithosphere, atmosphere, and ionosphere and their coupling
- 1School of Geophysics and Geomatics, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, 430074, Hubei, China (yysun0715@gmail.com)
- 2Institute of Earthquake Forecasting, China Earthquake Administration, Beijing, 100036, China (zhangxm96@126.com )
- 3Institute of Applied Mechanics, School of Civil Engineering, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei, 230009, China (gaoyx@hfut.edu.cn )
- 4Center for Astronautical Physics and Engineering, National Central University, Taoyuan, 320317, Taiwan (jyliu@jupiter.ss.ncu.edu.tw )
- 5Department of Space Science and Engineering, National Central University, Taoyuan, 320317, Taiwan (jyliu@jupiter.ss.ncu.edu.tw )
The explosive eruption of the Tonga underwater volcano (20.53°S, 175.38°W) occurred at ~04:15 UT on 15 January 2022. In this study, the networks of ground-based barometers, magnetometers, and global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receivers recorded disturbances that traveled away from the eruption with acoustic speeds in the atmosphere and ionosphere. The primary disturbances with periods of several hours in the magnetic fields and total electron content (TEC) observations reveal the electrodynamics changes in the upper atmosphere and the coupling of E- and F-region dynamo. The atmospheric Lamb wave propagating upward caused the secondary waves in the ionosphere and seeds irregularities following the leading front of the primary disturbances. The global radio occultation technique onboard the FORMOSAT‐7/COSMIC2 (F7/C2) mission sounds the ionosphere in the vertical direction, which shows the large-scale disturbances with scale > 200 km in the ionospheric F region and irregularities. On the other hand, the co-located instruments, including a seismometer, atmospheric electric field meter, wind profile radar, magnetometer, and GNSS receiver, monitored perturbations in the lithosphere, atmosphere, and ionosphere simultaneously at a certain location (29°N, 103°E) that is ~ten thousands of kilometers northwest away from the eruption. The primary phenomena of the eruption-associated disturbances are the long-period changes (period of ~ 2 hr) in the ionospheric TEC and the magnetic field in the upper atmosphere (above 100 km altitude), indicating the interactions of the ionospheric electrodynamics. The secondary phenomena included wind disturbances in the troposphere, which contribute to short-period changes (up to ten minutes) in air pressure, ground vibrations, and atmospheric electric field. The near-surface disturbances propagating upward further triggered short-period variations in the geomagnetic field and TEC. The primary changes in ionospheric electrodynamics, wind disturbance in the lower atmosphere, its upward propagation, and the resonance reveal the complex coupling phenomena due to the eruption and enrich our understanding of the geosphere coupling.
How to cite: Sun, Y.-Y., Chen, C.-H., Zhang, X., Gao, Y., and Liu, J.-Y.: Tonga eruption-induced disturbances in lithosphere, atmosphere, and ionosphere and their coupling, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-16536, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-16536, 2023.
