An international team of scientists has discovered that the eruption of the Tonga volcano caused disruption of satellite communications due to the formation of the Equatorial Plasma Bubble (EPB). The findings of the study were published in the journal Scientific Reports.

The authors used satellite and ground-based observations of the ionosphere (where atoms are ionized by solar radiation and form positively charged ions). Also, at an altitude of 150 to 800 kilometers from the surface, there is the F zone, where the highest concentration of ionized particles is found. This field allows radio communications to reflect and refract waves, spreading communications over long distances. However, various disturbances such as plasma motion, electric fields and neutral winds can cause local changes in plasma density. This area can then enlarge and turn into a bubbly EPB structure that traps radio waves and degrades GPS performance.

It was previously thought that these bubbles could be triggered by events such as volcanic activity on Earth. It was possible to prove this with the help of data obtained during the eruption of the underwater volcano of Tonga, which has become the largest analogue in history. Using the Arase and Himawari-8 satellites, the scientists recorded the irregular structure of the equatorial plasma bubble that arose after the pressure change caused by the volcanic eruption.

In addition, the researchers discovered a few other interesting discoveries. First, they showed that ionospheric oscillations begin a few minutes or hours before the atmospheric pressure waves responsible for EPB formation. Although previous ideas said that excitations in the ionosphere occur only after the explosion. Second, the equatorial plasma bubble turned out to be much larger than predicted models when it reached space.