Connections between deep tropical clouds and the Earth's ionosphere

We report on a series of simulations with the National Center for Atmospheric Research ( NCAR) thermosphere-ionosphere-mesosphere- electrodynamics general circulation model ( TIME- GCM) which were designed to replicate and facilitate the interpretation of the longitudinal structure discovered in IMAGE satellite airglow observations of the equatorial ionization anomaly ( EIA) at the far- ultraviolet ( FUV) 135.6- nm wavelength during March - April 2002 equinox. Our TIME- GCM results indicate that the four-peaked longitudinal variation in the EIA observed by IMAGE- FUV near 20: 00 local solar time can be explained by the effects of an eastward propagating zonal wavenumber-3 diurnal tide ( DE3) that is excited by latent heat release associated with raindrop formation in the tropical troposphere.