The very low-frequency transmitter radio wave anomalies related to the 2010 Ms 7.1 Yushu earthquake observed by the DEMETER satellite and the possible mechanism

Zhao, Shufan; Shen, XuHui; Zhima, Zeren; Zhou, Chen

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-38-969-2020

Articles | Volume 38, issue 5

https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-38-969-2020

© Author(s) 2020. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Special issue:

Satellite observations for space weather and geo-hazard

https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-38-969-2020

© Author(s) 2020. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 38, issue 5

Regular paper

|

10 Sep 2020

Regular paper |

| 10 Sep 2020

The very low-frequency transmitter radio wave anomalies related to the 2010 Ms 7.1 Yushu earthquake observed by the DEMETER satellite and the possible mechanism

Shufan Zhao, XuHui Shen, Zeren Zhima, and Chen Zhou

Data sets

DEMETER satellite data DEMETER scientific mission center http://demeter.cnrs-orleans.fr

COSMIC Data Analysis and Archive Center Home Page University Corporation for Atmospheric Research https://cdaac-www.cosmic.ucar.edu/cdaac/cgi_bin/fileFormats.cgi?type=ionPrf

Geomagnetic Equatorial Dst index Home Page World Data Center http://wdc.kugi.kyoto-u.ac.jp/dst_final/index.html

Short summary

We use satellite data to analyze precursory anomalies of the western China Ms 7.1 Yushu earthquake by analyzing the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and using the full-wave model to illustrate a possible mechanism for how the anomalies occurred. The results show that very low-frequency (VLF) radio wave SNR in the ionosphere decreased before the Yushu earthquake. The full-wave simulation results confirm that electron density variation in the lower ionosphere will affect VLF radio signal SNR.