Longitudinal and Interhemispheric Ionospheric Response to 2009 and 2013 SSW Events in the African‐European and Indian‐East Asian Sectors

The ionospheric response to two sudden stratospheric warming (SSW) events that occurred during low (2009) and moderate solar activity (2013) around 10°E (±10°) African‐European and 95°E (±10°) Indian‐East Asian sectors is investigated. The total electron content (TEC) obtained from a meridional chain of stations in the two sectors are used to understand the interlongitudinal and interhemispheric response to these SSW events. Significant depletion of daytime TEC was observed after the onset of 2009 SSW around the equatorial ionization anomaly (EIA) crest followed by an increase during the decaying phase of SSW. The formation of an early peak in the daytime TEC and semidiurnal variation in the response of TEC in the form of morning enhancement and afternoon depletion was observed at low latitudes. The morning enhancement is prominent at northern low latitudes while afternoon depletion is more at southern low latitudes. The conspicuous TEC perturbations characterized by semidiurnal variation in mid‐January of 2013 override the sudden increase in solar activity after the onset of the SSW. SSW impacted semidiurnal perturbations in F2 layer peak electron density (NmF2) and height (hmF2) noticed at Cocos Island, the southern hemisphere low latitude station. Longitudinal and interhemispheric differences in the magnitude and evolution of TEC perturbations were noticed. The longitudinal differences in SSW modulation of TEC might be attributed to the differential impact of the nonmigrating tides and differences in the geomagnetic field elements between the two sectors. The meridional wind in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere region contribute to the TEC enhancement.