Atmospheric Impact of Typhoon Hagibis: A Multi-Layer Investigation of Stratospheric and Ionospheric Responses

We investigate the multi-layer atmospheric impacts of Typhoon Hagibis (2019), which formed on 6 October, tracked across 12–35° N and 135–155° E, and made landfall on 12 October over the Izu Peninsula, central Honshu, Japan. We present a multi-layer study that involves the troposphere, stratosphere and upper ionosphere to examine the thermodynamic and electromagnetic coupling between these layers due to such extreme weather conditions. Using ERA5 reanalysis, we identify pronounced stratospheric temperature perturbations, elevated atmospheric gravity wave (AGW) potential energy, substantial spatiotemporal variability in the zonal (U) and meridional (V) wind components, relative humidity, and specific rainwater content throughout the cyclone’s evolution. Quantitatively, AGW potential energy increased from background levels of <5 J kg−1 to >40 J kg−1 near the cyclone core, while tropospheric wind anomalies reached ±30–40 m s−1, accompanied by relative humidity values exceeding 90% and specific rainwater content up to 1.5×10−3 kg kg−1, indicative of vigorous moist convection and strong vertical energy transport. The ionospheric response, derived from GPS-based Total Electron Content (TEC) at 10 Japanese IGS stations, reveals vertical TEC (VTEC) perturbations whose amplitudes and temporal evolution vary systematically with GPS-station-to-typhoon-eye distance, including clear enhancements and reductions around the closest-approach day. These signatures indicate a measurable ionospheric response to cyclone-driven atmospheric forcing under geomagnetically quiet conditions, confirming that Hagibis produced vertically coupled disturbances linking stratospheric AGW activity with ionospheric electron density variability.