European Space Weather Week 2025

The Impact of Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai Volcanic Eruption to the Ionosphere over Malaysia using ROTI Map

Not scheduled

15m

Mon 27/10: Idun - Tue 28/10, Wed 29/10: Studion

Poster SWR4 - Interactions in the Earth’s Magnetosphere-Ionosphere-Thermosphere System and their Space Weather Impact SWR4 –Interactions in the Earth’s Magnetosphere-Ionosphere-Thermosphere System and their Space Weather Impact

Speaker

Siti Aminah Binti Bahari (Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia)

Description

The Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai Volcano, located in the Pacific Islands, erupted on 15 January 2022. The eruption triggered both a tsunami and a meteotsunami, impacting areas around the Pacific Ocean. Lamb waves from the eruption, travelling at a speed of approximately 310 m/s, reached eastern Indonesia (~5000 km from Tonga) within 4 hours and arrived in Malaysia (Borneo region) about 6 hours later. The effects of the eruption triggered the occurrence of unseasonal equatorial plasma bubbles. This study investigates the impact of the eruption on the ionosphere over Malaysia using GNSS receiver stations across the country. Data in RINEX format were processed to derive ROTI values, an index used to identify occurrences of equatorial plasma bubbles. The results of the study show that the equatorial plasma bubbles were first recorded appearing over eastern Malaysia at 10:50 UT and lasted until 14:40 UT, 10 hours after the eruptions