Joint observations of equatorial plasma bubbles by COSMIC-2 and GOLD

The current COSMIC-2 and GOLD missions are both capable of monitoring equatorial plasma bubbles. The COSMIC-2 GNSS radio occultation receiver detects bubble induced GNSS signal scintillations. GOLD observes their UV emission depletion. The two missions offer an opportunity to examine bubbles from two perspectives. The combined observations can help verify the geolocation of the bubbles derived from the COSMIC-2 scintillation observations. The COSMIC-2 Ion velocity meter (IVM) provides observations of vertical ion drift. The vertical ion drift pre-reversal enhancement (PRE) is the main driver of the Rayleigh-Taylor instability responsible for the occurrence of the bubbles. Hence, the COSMIC-2 IVM observation can help interpret the longitudinal and seasonal occurrence of the bubbles based on the PRE observations. In this report, we present the new observations from these two missions to analyze the plasma bubble occurrence in the equatorial region. Because bubbles can cause GNSS and communication signal scintillations, they are of great interest to space weather research.