Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing, cilt.19, ss.15204-15219, 2026 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus)
Severe meteorological conditions, such as tropical cyclones, may contribute in electrodynamical changes of the ionospheric layer in different ways. We search for possible physical mechanisms responsible in bringing such changes by considering an extremely severe cyclone “Biparjoy” as a case study using real-time/near real-time satellite observations. A significant growth in the Atmospheric Chemical Potential (ACP) as spiral threads around the eyewall and right underneath the rainbands is observed during occurrence of numerous thunderstorms (K-index > 30), establishing a near-perfect correlation (ρ = 0.99). This observation confirms that the area under the cyclone became an ionized medium following the mutual interaction of the lightning activity and rain droplets. Moreover, the ionospheric Total Electron Content (TEC) maps derived from the COSMIC-2 satellites reveal significant ionospheric enhancements (>10 TECU) in the form of concentric TEC shells, specifically, during cyclone's peak intensity. This ionospheric intensification is driven by the mutual electric field variability from lightning activity added to the ACP growth from below that brought changes in the Global Electric Circuit (GEC) through boundary layer conductivity. In addition, Real-Time Global Ionospheric Maps (RTGIMs) and the novel Ionospheric Storm Scale Index maps (IsUG) exhibit significant performance in detecting meteorological influence onto the ionosphere, which is encouraging considering real-time ionospheric monitoring perspectives. While, ACP and TEC values exhibit a strong correlation (ρ = 0.83) providing evidence of cross-layer atmosphere coupling. Furthermore, NASA's VIIRS DNB nighttime radiance maps characterize the generation of Atmospheric Gravity Waves (AGWs) that induced spasmodic S-type ripples in topside ionospheric density. However, the production of these ripples is instantaneous that was not observed during the rest of the analyzed period. These observations confirm that the sustained ionospheric enhancements are primarily attributed to the enhanced electrical conduction in GEC, rather than oscillatory AGW effects.