A detailed investigation of low latitude tweek atmospherics observed by the WHU ELF/VLF receiver:2.Occurrence features and associated ionospheric parameters

As a companion paper to Zhou RX et al.(2020),this study describes application of the automatic detection and analysis module to identify all the tweek atmospherics detectible in the WHU ELF/VLF receiver data collected at Suizhou station during the period of 3 February through 29 February 2016.Detailed analysis of the identified low-latitude tweek events reveals that the occurrence rate varies considerably—from 800 to 6000 tweeks per day,and exhibits a strong diurnal and local time dependence,the peak occurring before local midnight.The diurnal variation of identified tweeks was similar to that of the lightning data obtained by the World-Wide Lightning Location Network(WWLLN)..Estimates of the propagation distance and ionospheric reflection height of tweek atmospherics suggest that the majority(~92%)of the low latitude tweeks originate from the lightning activity within a radius of 4000 km and that they are very likely to reflect from the lower ionospheric D-region at the height range of 75–85 km.At these lower ionospheric reflection altitudes,~74%of the corresponding electron densities from the tweek spectral measurements are within 24.5–27.5 cm^-3.The daily variation of estimated D-region electron densities in the considered period(February 2016)also exhibits a small overall increasing trend from early to later in the month.

Triangulation of red sprites observed above a mesoscale convective system in North China

The triangulation of red sprites was obtained, based on concurrent observations over a mesoscale convective system(MCS) in North China from two stations separated by about 450 km. In addition, broadband sferics from the sprite-producing lightning were measured at five ground stations, making it possible to locate and identify the individual causative lightning discharges for different elements in this dancing sprite event. The results of our analyses indicate that the sprites were produced above the trailing stratiform region of the MCS, and their parent strokes were located mainly in the peripheral area of the stratiform. The lateral offset between sprites and causative strokes ranges from a few km to more than 50 km. In a particularly bright sprite, with a distinct halo feature and streamers descending down to an altitude of approximately 48 km, the sprite current signal identified in the electric sferic, measured at a range of about 1,110 km, peaked at approximately 1 ms after the return stroke.

A detailed investigation of low latitude tweek atmospherics observed by the WHU ELF/VLF receiver:Ⅰ. Automatic detection and analysis method

As a dispersive wave mode produced by lightning strokes, tweek atmospherics provide important hints of lower ionospheric(i.e., D-region) electron density. Based on data accumulation from the WHU ELF/VLF receiver system, we develop an automatic detection module in terms of the maximum-entropy-spectral-estimation(MESE) method to identify unambiguous instances of low latitude tweeks.We justify the feasibility of our procedure through a detailed analysis of the data observed at the Suizhou Station(31.57°N, 113.32°E) on17 February 2016. A total of 3961 tweeks were registered by visual inspection;the automatic detection method captured 4342 tweeks, of which 3361 were correct ones, producing a correctness percentage of 77.4%(= 3361/4342) and a false alarm rate of 22.6%(= 981/4342).A Short-Time Fourier Transformation(STFT) was also applied to trace the power spectral profiles of identified tweeks and to evaluate the tweek propagation distance. It is found that the fitting accuracy of the frequency–time curve and the relative difference of propagation distance between the two methods through the slope and through the intercept can be used to further improve the accuracy of automatic tweek identification. We suggest that our automatic tweek detection and analysis method therefore supplies a valuable means to investigate features of low latitude tweek atmospherics and associated ionospheric parameters comprehensively.

Simultaneous occurrence of four magnetospheric wave modes and the resultant combined scattering effect on radiation belt electrons

We report a representative concurrent event of four wave modes at L≈5.0,including electrostatic electron cyclotron harmonic(ECH)waves,exohiss,magnetosonic(MS)waves,and electromagnetic ion cyclotron(EMIC)waves,based on the observations from Van Allen Probe A on October 15,2015.The diffusion coefficients induced by these waves are calculated by using both the Full Diffusion Code and test particle simulations.Moreover,the scattering effects of these waves on energetic electrons are simulated by using a two-dimensional Fokker-Planck diffusion model.The results show that ECH waves mainly scatter low-pitch-angle(<20°)electrons at 0.1-10 keV;exohiss can significantly scatter hundreds of kiloelectron volt electrons to form a reversed energy spectrum;MS waves mainly affect high-pitch-angle electrons(>60°);and EMIC waves scatter only>5 MeV electrons.The combined scattering effects of exohiss and MS waves are stronger than those of exohiss alone.The top-hat pitch angle distributions produced by exohiss are relaxed after adding the effect of MS waves.Because the energies of electrons scattered by ECH waves and EMIC waves are much lower and higher than those scattered by exohiss and MS waves,respectively,the combined scattering effects with the addition of ECH and EMIC waves show little difference from the results for the combination of MS waves and exohiss.These results suggest that distinct wave modes can occur simultaneously and scatter electrons in combination or individually,which requires careful consideration in future global simulations of the complex dynamics of radiation belt energetic electrons.

Convenient Self-Heating Instant Food Causes Significant Increasing Human Exposure to Organophosphate Esters

The self-heating lunch box(SHLB)is a kind of popular instant food in China,yet little is known about the associated chemical release risk during its heating process.In this study,we investigated organophosphate esters(OPEs)in original unheated food(UF),SHLB-heated processed food(HF)and potential OPE release from SHLB packaging materials.Significantly higher concentrations of OPEs were observed in HF(267±246 ng/g dry weight(dw))than in UF(163±211 ng/g dw)(p<0.001),suggesting an introduction of additional OPEs during heating processes.Tris(2-chloroethyl)phosphate,triethyl phosphate,and tris(2-chloroisopropyl)phosphate exhibited the highest absolute increased amounts,with 137,48.8,and 149%growth in HF than in UF,respectively.Migration testing revealed that packaging materials were rich in OPEs and can release considerable OPEs into food simulates(range,14.7-90.8 ng/g;mean,47.9±21.8).Influencing factors(temperature,contact time,oily food)on OPE migration from packaging materials to food were assessed.Higher temperature and longer contact time increased OPE contents in food simulates.Moreover,the presence of abundant OPEs in UF and significant correlations among different OPEs(p<0.05)suggested contamination happened during food processing and storage.With one SHLB meal a day,a 12-fold increase of OPE intake was observed for humans compared to those following a traditional dietary habit.In the high-exposure(95th percentile)scenario,hazard quotients of nine OPEs ranged from 0.00005 to 0.05.Our results suggested that the SHLB exposure pathway of OPEs should be particularly paid attention to in specific subpopulations that prefer this dietary habit.