RADIO PHYSICS AND RADIO ASTRONOMY

Subject and Purpose. The thermal energy of the Tonga volcano reached 3.9 •10¹⁸ J, its power amounted to 9.1•10¹³ W. The energy and power of the blast waves approached (6.7...7.5) •10¹⁸ J and 10¹¹ W, respectively. Ionospheric effects caused by the explosive eruption of the Tonga volcano on January 15, 2022 have received due attention. It was established that the ionospheric disturbances spread over global distances, with the greatest disturbances occurring in the near zone. The aim of the present paper is to describe aperiodic and quasi-periodic disturbances started by the Tonga volcano explosion and occurring in the near ionospheric zone.

Methods and Methodology. To detect ionospheric disturbances generated by the volcanic eruption, temporal variations of the total electron content (TEC) in a vertical column in the ionosphere were analyzed. The total error of the TEC estimation did not exceed 0.1 TECU.

Results. The quantitative characteristics of ionospheric disturbances caused by the explosive eruption of the Tonga volcano have been obtained. It was proved that the appearance of the ionospheric "hole" was caused directly by the volcanic explosion. With dis- tance away from the volcano, the TEC deficit in absolute values decreased from ~10 to ~2.5 TECU. As that was happening, the time taken to form the ionospheric "hole" increased from ~20 to ~100 min. Three groups of disturbances were observed. One group picks out disturbances having an N-shaped profile and caused by a blast wave with a speed exceeding ~1 000 m/s. Another group includes disturbances with a propagation speed within ~340...620 m/s, which is characteristic of atmospheric gravity waves at ionospheric heights. The last group is specified by the disturbance propagation speed within ~110 to 320 m/s. The disturbances of the kind can be generated by tsunamis, Lamb waves and atmospheric gravity waves. The wave disturbance periods varied within ~ 5 to 20 min, the disturbance amplitudes were within 0.5...1.0 TECU.

Conclusions. It has been proven that aperiodic and quasi-periodic ionospheric disturbances in the near zone were caused directly by the explosion of the Tonga volcano.

Keywords: Tonga volcano, ionosphere, total electron content, ionospheric "hole", quasi-periodic disturbances, disturbance parameters

Manuscript submitted 10.12.2022

Radio phys. radio astron. 2023, 28(3): 212-223

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