Hemispherically asymmetric evolution of nighttime ionospheric equatorial ionization anomaly in the American Longitude Sector

The Global-scale Observation of Limb and Disk (GOLD) mission observed distinct post-sunset, hemispherically asymmetric evolution of the equatorial ionization anomaly between 40 degrees and 50 degrees W on 19 November 2018, with the southern crest shifting poleward but the northern crest remaining in the same latitude region. The Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model-eXtended captured this phenomenon. Diagnostic analysis revealed that this asymmetric evolution was due to the hemispheric asymmetry in plasma transport by E x B drifts and neutral winds.

In the Northern hemisphere, northward neutral wind transport dominated around sunset (20 UT near 45 degrees W), causing the crest to be at lower altitudes and decay faster. After pre-reversal enhancement (PRE) occurred at 20 UT in the northern hemisphere, E x B and neutral wind transport largely balanced each other, and the crest remained in the same latitude region. In the southern hemisphere EIA crest, PRE occurred around 1 hr later than the one in the north.