Long-term comparison of the ionospheric F2 layer electron density peak derived from ionosonde data and Formosat-3/COSMIC occultations

Author: Limberger Marco   Hernández-Pajares Manuel   Aragón-Ángel Angela   Altadill David   Dettmering Denise  

Publisher: Edp Sciences

E-ISSN: 2115-7251|5|issue|A21-A21

ISSN: 2115-7251

Source: Journal of Space Weather and Space Climate, Vol.5, Iss.issue, 2015-07, pp. : A21-A21

Access to resources Favorite

Disclaimer: Any content in publications that violate the sovereignty, the constitution or regulations of the PRC is not accepted or approved by CNPIEC.

Previous Menu Next

Abstract

Electron density profiles (EDPs) derived from GNSS radio occultation (RO) measurements provide valuable information on the vertical electron density structure of the ionosphere and, among others, allow the extraction of key parameters such as the maximum electron density NmF2 and the corresponding peak height hmF2 of the F2 layer. An efficient electron density retrieval method, developed at the UPC (Barcelona, Spain), has been applied in this work to assess the accuracy of NmF2and hmF2 as determined from Formosat-3/COSMIC (F-3/C) radio occultation measurements for a period of more than half a solar cycle between 2006 and 2014. Ionosonde measurements of the Space Physics Interactive Data Resource (SPIDR) network serve as a reference. Investigations on the global trend as well as comparisons of the F2 layer electron density peaks derived from both occultations and ionosonde measurements are carried out. The studies are performed in the global domain and with the distinction of different latitude sectors around the magnetic equator ±[0°, 20°], ±]20°, 60°] and ±]60°, 90°]) and local times (LT) accounting for different ionospheric conditions at night (02:00 LT ± 2 h), dawn (08:00 LT ± 2 h), and day (14:00 LT ± 2 h).

Related content