Investigation of tropospheric-space weather coupling using Schumann resonance measurements on board the C/NOFS satellite

Detection of Schumann Resonance spectral features of the earth-ionosphere cavity from outside the cavity offers new remote sensing capabilities to assess tropospheric-space weather connections, namely periodic patterns observed in tropospheric, ionospheric, and magnetospheric data. Semiannual oscillations have been identified in a variety of hydrodynamic and electrodynamic processes, but the mechanism (or mechanisms) responsible for such effect remains elusive. Analysis of AC electric field measurements made by the Vector Electric Field Instrument (VEFI) on board the Communications/Navigation Outage Forecasting System (C/NOFS) satellite also shows a semiannual pattern in Schumann resonance data recorded during nighttime in the equatorial ionosphere. In this work we present C/NOFS data and outline future developments involving low frequency electric and magnetic field measurements. We discuss how patterns observed in the Schumann resonance amplitude are expected to contribute to validate - or at least constrain - mechanisms previously proposed to explain the semiannual oscillation, as well as their implications for investigating coupling between layers of the Earth gaseous envelope.