video: This is a full series of 2-D maps of median-filtered GPS TEC and ionospheric convection for the formation and evolution of patches on Sept, 26 2011. The data are projected on geomagnetic grids and a coast map (magnetic latitude/MLT coordinates; 10-deg latitude circles; with noon at the top). The dashed line across the middle of each panel presents the day-night terminator at 100-km altitude. Five-minute averaged vertical TEC observations binned by latitude and longitude are displayed with the simultaneous, independent convection pattern derived from the Northern Hemispheric SuperDARN observations obtained from the "map potential" algorithm. This video relates to a paper that appeared in the March 29, 2013, issue of Science, published by AAAS. The paper, by Qing-He Zhang at Polar Research Institute of China in Shanghai, China, and colleagues was titled, “Direct Observations of the Evolution of Polar Cap Ionization Patches.” view more
Credit: [Video courtesy of Qing-He Zhang]