Tridimensional reconstruction of the Co-Seismic Ionospheric Disturbance around the time of 2015 Nepal earthquake

The Co-Seismic Ionospheric Disturbance of the 2015 Nepal earthquake is analyzed in this paper. GNSS data are used to obtain the Satellite-Station TEC sequences. After removing the de-trended TEC variation, a clear ionospheric disturbance was observed 10 min after the earthquake, while the geomagnetic conditions, solar activity, and weather condition remained calm according to the Kp, Dst, F10.7 indices and meteorological records during the period of interest. Computerized ionosphere tomography (CIT) is then used to present the tridimensional ionosphere variation with a 10-min time resolution. The CIT results indicate that (1) the disturbance of the ionospheric electron density above the epicenter during the 2015 Nepal earthquake is confined at a relatively low altitude (approximately 150–300 km); (2) the ionospheric disturbances on the west side and east sides of the epicenter are precisely opposite. A newly established electric field penetration model of the lithosphere–atmosphere–ionosphere coupling is used to investigate the potential physical mechanism.