Subauroral polarization stream (SAPS) are latitudinally narrow flow channels of large westward plasma drifts in the subauroral ionosphere.

Earthquake and tsunami are known to be the source of atmospheric gravity waves that can generate plasma ripples in the space. On March 11, 2011, a magnitude 9.0 earthquake occurred near the east coast of Honshu, Japan, unleashing a savage tsunami to strike offshore of Japan.

Large‐scale meteorological disturbances like sudden stratospheric warmings (SSWs) are often of interest for the investigation of a variety of mechanisms and processes that link different regions of the Earth's atmosphere across a wide range of altitudes and latitudes.

Explains Wenbin Wang and others, previous studies have been devoted to examining the ionosphere and thermosphere response during the solar eclipse, but the post-eclipse response of the global ionosphere and thermosphere has not previously been well quantified.

It is commonly believed that solar eclipses have a great impact on the ionosphere-thermosphere (I-T) system within the eclipse shadow, but little attention has been paid to the global responses to them.

The lower atmospheric forcing effects on the ionosphere are particularly evident during extreme meteorological events known as sudden stratospheric warmings (SSWs).