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PERSPECTIVE article

Front. Astron. Space Sci.
Sec. Space Physics
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fspas.2025.1539821

Resolving the Generation Mechanisms and Electrodynamical Effects of Medium Scale Traveling Ionospheric Disturbances (MSTIDs)

Provisionally accepted
Jeff Klenzing Jeff Klenzing 1*Kate Zawdie Kate Zawdie 2Elvira Astafyeva Elvira Astafyeva 3Anna Belehaki Anna Belehaki 4Meghan Burleigh Meghan Burleigh 2Angeline G Burrell Angeline G Burrell 2Cosme AOB Figueiredo Cosme AOB Figueiredo 5Nathaniel Anthony Frissell Nathaniel Anthony Frissell 6Weizheng Fu Weizheng Fu 7Dustin Hickey Dustin Hickey 2Joe Huba Joe Huba 8Pavel Inchin Pavel Inchin 9Stephen Roland Kaeppler Stephen Roland Kaeppler 10V Lakshmi Narayanan V Lakshmi Narayanan 11Mani Sivakandan Mani Sivakandan 12Jonathon Smith Jonathon Smith 1,13Chao Xiong Chao Xiong 14Tatsuhiro Yokoyama Tatsuhiro Yokoyama 15Matt Zettergren Matt Zettergren 16Shun-Rong Zhang Shun-Rong Zhang 17
  • 1 Goddard Space Flight Center, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Greenbelt, United States
  • 2 Naval Research Laboratory, Washington D.C., District of Columbia, United States
  • 3 UMR7154 Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris (IPGP), Paris, Île-de-France, France
  • 4 National Observatory of Athens, Athens, Attiki, Greece
  • 5 Federal University of Campina Grande, Campina Grande, Paraíba, Brazil
  • 6 University of Scranton, Scranton, Pennsylvania, United States
  • 7 Nagoya University, Nagoya, Aichi, Japan
  • 8 Syntek Technologies, Fairfax, Virginia, United States
  • 9 Computational Physics (United States), Springfield, Virginia, United States
  • 10 Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina, United States
  • 11 Krea University, Sricity, Andhra Pradesh, India
  • 12 Leibniz Institute of Atmospheric Physics (LG), Rostock, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany
  • 13 The Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C., District of Columbia, United States
  • 14 Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China
  • 15 Kyoto University, Kyoto, Kyōto, Japan
  • 16 Embry–Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach, Florida, United States
  • 17 Haystack Observatory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The term "Medium-Scale Traveling Ionospheric Disturbances" is used to describe a number of different propagating phenomena in ionospheric plasma density with a scale size of hundreds of km. This includes multiple generation mechanisms, including ion-neutral collisions, plasma instabilities, and electromagnetic forcing. Observational limitations can impede characterization and identification of MSTID generation mechanisms. We discuss inconsistencies in the current terminology used to describe these and provide a set of recommendations for description and discussion.

    Keywords: Ionosphere, thermosphere, Geospace, Traveling ionospheric disturbances, Space weather, Plasma Density MSTID Generation Mechanisms

    Received: 04 Dec 2024; Accepted: 17 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Klenzing, Zawdie, Astafyeva, Belehaki, Burleigh, Burrell, Figueiredo, Frissell, Fu, Hickey, Huba, Inchin, Kaeppler, Narayanan, Sivakandan, Smith, Xiong, Yokoyama, Zettergren and Zhang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Jeff Klenzing, Goddard Space Flight Center, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Greenbelt, United States

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.