Satellite and Ground-Based Remote Sensing of Seismic, Volcanic and Cyclonic Activity in the Earth-Atmosphere-Ionosphere System

Dear Colleagues,

Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and powerful atmospheric cyclones are the most powerful natural hazards faced by humanity. The spatial- and temporal-scale devastation caused by these phenomena can involve cities, regions or entire countries.

The costs, in terms of loss of human life and infrastructure damage, are huge each year. To enable the timely provision of information and the implementation of adequate measures, and thus, minimize the harm caused by these phenomena, advanced research should be conducted in this field. Once the subjects of individual disciplines, each of the abovementioned hazards is now studied more broadly whereby the synergy of the geospheres comprising the “Earth System” is expressed by lithosphere/hydrosphere–ionosphere coupling, which spreads through the atmosphere. Such physical connections are now recognized as the basis for the Earth’s complexity. To undertake the challenge of unraveling this complexity, a multiparametric and multidisciplinary approach is essential; this demands ever-deeper knowledge of the phases of preparation and coupling of the phenomena between the geospheres.

Furthermore, investigations of dynamic processes in the atmosphere, ionosphere and hydrosphere—which could be associated with strong seismic, volcanic and atmospheric activity—should take a synergistic approach.

With a view to developing a deeper insight into geophysical synergistic coupling processes in Earth’s open dynamic geosphere system, this Special Issue will focus on new observations, models, simulations, innovative algorithms and machine learning techniques applied to data from satellites, airplanes and the ground.

This Special Issue welcomes papers that discuss innovative multidisciplinary and multiparameter methods and applications for the monitoring and modelling of seismic, volcanic and powerful cyclone phenomena and their possible interactions and signatures in the ionosphere, from their preparation to their fully developed forms. We encourage submissions on topics including, but not limited to:

• The development of algorithms for automation, validation and implementation in search of coupling in Earth’s geosphere system caused by seismic, volcanic and cyclonic activity.
• Mapping of the global responses of Earth’s geospheres to local powerful sources (e.g., volcanic eruptions, typhoons and earthquakes).
• The remote sensing of geomagnetic fields, ionospheric parameters and other data (e.g., TEC, VLF, ULF and particle precipitation).
• The application of data-driven approaches, digital twin/combined physical theory and data processing, numerical modelling, and complex system theory to the investigation of Earth–atmosphere–ionosphere coupling processes, and physical models of the coupling between Earth’s geospheres.
• The physical fields accompanying seismic, volcanic and strong atmospheric processes.
• The application of new physical and chemical sensors in geophysics.
• Dynamic and planetary, atmospheric gravity, electromagnetic and other wave processes in the lithosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere and ionosphere that are associated with seismic, volcanic and cyclonic activity.

We welcome the submission of any papers that concern new and effective methods/remarkable improvements to known methods of remote sensing for identifying dynamic state/wave structures in the Earth, atmosphere and magnetosphere. At the same time, we ask potential authors to note how the phenomena and/or remote sensing methods they investigate, for example wave processes in the atmosphere and ionosphere, relate to coupling in the LEAIM system.

Prof. Dr. Yuriy G. Rapoport
Dr. Volodymyr Grimalsky
Dr. Anatoly Kotsarenko
Gianfranco Cianchini
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Remote Sensing is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• earthquake
• volcanic eruption
• strong atmospheric processes
• complex monitoring in geophysics
• numerical modeling
• SAR processing
• interferometry
• time series analysis
• photogrammetry and sonogrammetry
• multi-spectral approaches
• global navigation satellite system (GNSS)
• wave processes
• electromagnetic and acoustic perturbations in geophysics
• different frequency ranges, including ULF, ELF, VLF, and higher
• lithosphere-hydrosphere-atmosphere-ionosphere coupling and synergetic processes

Title: Excitation of low-frequency resonators and waveguide oscilla-tions in the Earth-Atmosphere-Ionosphere system by lightning current sources, connected with Hunga-Tonga volcano eruption
Authors: Yuriy G. Rapoport; Volodymyr V. Grimalsky; Andrzej Krankowski; Asen Grytsai; Sergei S. Petrishchevskii; Leszek Błaszkiewicz; Chieh-Hung Chen
Affiliation: Space Radio-Diagnostics Research Centre, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Poland
Abstract: The current source near the location of Hunga-Tonga volcano eruption has a wide-band frequency spectrum. It is monotonous in Very Low Frequency (VLF) range but has many significant details at the lower frequencies (Ultra-Low Frequency – ULF, Extremely-Low Frequency – ELF). Nonetheless, the decreasing amplitude tendency maintains at the frequencies exceeding ~0.1 Hz. In this paper, a combined dynamic-quasi-stationary method has been developed to simulate ULF penetration through the Earth (Lithosphere)-Atmosphere-Ionosphere-Magnetosphere system. This method is suitable for arbitrarily low frequencies, down to f = $10^{-4}$ Hz, and it is used for cases of both open and closed geomagnetic field lines. The electromagnetic field is determined from the dynamics in the ionosphere, and from quasi-stationary approach in the atmosphere, taking into account not only the electric, but also the magnetic component of the field. A numerical-analytical method has been developed to find the eigenmodes of the Schumann and associated Schumann and Ionospheric Alfvén resonators in the ELF range and the eigenmodes of the Earth-Ionosphere waveguide in the VLF range. A complex dispersion equation for the corresponding disturbances is derived. It turned out that the density of effective lightning current in the ULF range reaches a value of the order of $10^{-7}$ A/$m^2$. It is shown that oscillations at the main resonance frequency in the Schumann resonator can simultaneously cause noticeable excitation of the local Ionospheric Alfvén resonator, the parameters of which depend on the angle between the geomagnetic field and vertical. The following effects are confirmed: (i) mutual conversion of transverse-magnetic modes into transverse-electric modes at a distance of about 1000 km and (ii) the possibility of VLF propagation over distances of the order of several thousand km in the Waveguide Earth–Ionosphere. The results obtained generally correspond to the experimental data, qualitatively and in some cases quantitatively.

Title: Geospace weather impacts the Earth’s atmosphere-ionosphere system. Case study of global seismicity responses to 2013 and 2015 St. Patrick's Day geomagnetic storms
Authors: Dimitar Ouzounov; Galina Khachikyan
Affiliation: Institute for Earth, Computing, Human and Observing (Institute for ECHO) Chapman University One University Drive, Orange, CA 92866
Abstract: We present the results of a response of global seismicity to St. Patrick's Day (March 17) geomagnetic storms in 2013 and 2015, which occurred during rather similar solar flux levels and nearly identical storm sudden com-mencement times. A similar pattern of most substantial earthquake occurrence after storms is revealed. Namely, with a time delay of ~30 and ~39 days after storm onsets in 2013 and 2015, respectively, the strong crust earthquakes occurred at continental areas in Iran (M7.7, April 16, 2013) and Nepal (M7.8, April 25, 2015). Then, with a time delay of ~68 and ~74 days after storm onsets in 2013 and 2015, respectively, the strong deep-focused earthquakes occurred beneath the Sea of Okhotsk (M8.3, May 24, 2013, Russia) and beneath the Pacific Ocean (M7.8, May 30, 2015, Japan). It is shown that in the time of geomagnetic storm onsets (06:04 UT in 2013 and 04:48 UT in 2015), the high latitudinal part of the longitudinal regions, in which the future strong earthquakes occurred, was located under the polar cusp, where the solar wind plasma would have direct ac-cess to the Earth's environment. The results support our earlier findings [Ouzounov and Khachikyan, 2024] that seismic activity may respond to geomagnetic storm onset with a time delay from some days to some months.