Proton Density Variation in Ionosphere Before Strong Earthquake Using GOES-15 Data

Abstract

Seismic activity has some relationship with proton density which reveled from the observation of Scotia Sea Earthquake. In this paper, proton density variations are observed with the help of GOES-15 satellite data considering the density of proton in between 8:00 and 12:00 (I.S.T) for a few days before and after the earthquake. The earthquake time was at 9:04 a.m. on 17 November 2013 in Scotia Sea (with the magnitude of 7.5 M and depth of 10 km). In this paper, the variations of proton density and ion densities are statistically analysed from GOES-15. The GOES N Series of spacecraft continuously observe and measure the meteorological phenomena in real time, providing the meteorological community and the atmospheric scientist greatly improved observational and measurement data of the Western Hemisphere. Because of forecasting and space environmental monitoring, these enhanced operational services also improve support for atmospheric science research, numerical weather prediction models and environmental sensor design and development. The GOES satellites provides timely environmental information to meteorologists and their audiences alike—graphically displaying the intensity, path and size of storms. The result shows that the variation in the anomalies before the earthquakes have different sign from case to case and that there exists a strong relationship between the amplitude and the magnitude of the earthquake. It has also been found that the proton density at night detects variations significantly before the earthquakes. Due to the plate movements under Scotia Sea, the submicron aerosols are emerged by which ionosphere gets ionized and electric field becomes stronger; then electrons are accelerated but huge amount of protons comes from solar radiation. So there is a chance of decreasing proton density in ionosphere. Anomalies in the positive and negative pulses in GOES-15 data during 1–7 days before all studied earthquakes during quiet geomagnetic conditions indicates that these anomalous behaviours are highly regarded as seismo ionospheric precursors.