Nighttime medium-scale traveling ionospheric disturbances detected by network GPS receivers in Taiwan

The nighttime medium-scale traveling ionospheric disturbances (MSTIDs) are detected by the network GPS receivers in Taiwan for the first time. The two-dimensional mapping technique (a spatial resolution of 0.05° × 0.05° in latitude and longitude with 5×5 pixels smoothing) is applied on the data of TEC perturbations (TECp) and GPS phase fluctuations (δTEC/min). The results show that the MSTIDs move southwestward to latitude of 20.5°N with a horizontal velocity between 100 and 160 m/s and a wavelength of about 500 km. The wavefronts of the MSTIDs are aligned along the northwest-southeast direction. Furthermore, the greater |ATEC/min| values are corresponding to the wave peak and trough of TECp. This coincidence indicates that the MSTIDs play an important role for the generation of F region irregularities in the low-latitude ionosphere.