Ionospheric electron and ion temperatures response to seismic activity

Abstract

A connection between earthquake and ionosphere has been proposed in the last few decades. A number of hypotheses have been suggested as the earthquake precursory to reduce the hazard of life and property but could not succeed. In the present study, effort has been made to correlate the ionospheric temperature anomalies to seismic activities. The ionospheric electron and ion temperatures were measured with the help of Retarding Potential Analyzer (RPA) payload aboard the Indian SROSS-C2 satellite. The data is used for the period 1995-1998 in the altitude range 430-630 km over the Indian region. The details of seismic events during this period were downloaded from the United State Geological Survey (USGS) website. The normal day ion and electron temperatures have been compared to the temperatures recorded during the seismic event. It has been observed that there is significant enhancement in the electron and ion temperatures. The electron temperature was enhanced by 1.2 - 1.5 times compared to the average normal day electron temperature. However, the ion temperature was 1.1 - 1.3 times over the average normal day ion temperature. The satellite data was analysed for corresponding seismic event duration in such way that the other possible effects are eliminated.