利用COSMIC数据研究顶部电离层O+扩散流的统计特征

从等离子体运动方程出发, 利用COSMIC星座的掩星数据, 借助相关经验模式, 计算了太阳活动低年顶部电离层O+场向扩散速度和扩散通量, 并分析了其全球分布和日变化特征. 结果表明, 白天等离子体扩散速度的方向随高度增加由向下(极向)逐步变为向上(赤道向), 方向转变的高度一般在hmF2+80 km以下. 在白天较高高度, 南北磁纬10o ~20 o存在着向上方向的最大扩散速度和扩散通量; 而在夜间, 南北磁纬30o~40 o存在向下方向的最大扩散速度和扩散通量. 在分点, 南北半球的扩散通量和扩散速度大致对称; 而在至点, 扩散通量存在着明显的南北半球不对称现象. 另外, 不同纬度的扩散速度有着不同的日变化特征.      

中性风和垂直漂移对低纬F区电离层影响初析

利用二维低纬电离层－等离子体层时变理论模式,模拟太阳活动高年春分条件下垂直漂移和中性风强度改变对低纬F区电离层参量的影响.模式在所考察的磁子午面内求解等离子体输运方程,给出离子浓度和速度随纬度、高度、地方时的变化.模式计算结果显示,调整垂直漂移和中性风强度对低纬F区电离层电子浓度的影响与电离层所处磁纬、垂直漂移和中性风作用时段等有关,呈现出一些新特点.结果对分析不同条件下垂直漂移和中性风对低纬F区电离层影响具有一定的指导意义.      

顶部电离层总离子密度经度的变化

利用DMSP F13卫星1996-2005年共10年的观测数据,研究地磁中低纬地区黄昏时段(18:00 LT)顶部电离层总离子密度经度变化的季节、地磁纬度和太阳活动变化特征.结果表明总的经度变化在低纬地区与中纬地区具有明显不同特征.不同经度结构的季节变化均以年变化为主,但纬度分布具有明显差异.一波结构主要集中在中纬地区,且南半球明显强于北半球;二波结构南北半球不对称性非常明显;三波结构和四波结构均为低纬地区明显强于中纬地区.通过分析不同波结构对总经度变化的贡献发现,一波结构在南半球中纬地区贡献最大,二波结构在12月前后的15°N附近贡献较大,三波结构和四波结构仅在低纬地区有较强贡献.在不同太阳活动条件下,不同波结构的贡献率有明显变化.      

顶部电离层总离子密度的经度变化

利用DMSP F13卫星1996—2005年共10年的观测数据,研究地磁中低纬地区黄昏时段(18:00LT)顶部电离层总离子密度经度变化的季节、地磁纬度和太阳活动变化特征.结果表明总的经度变化在低纬地区与中纬地区具有明显不同特征.不同经度结构的季节变化均以年变化为主,但纬度分布具有明显差异.一波结构主要集中在中纬地区,且南半球明显强于北半球;二波结构南北半球不对称性非常明显;三波结构和四波结构均为低纬地区明显强于中纬地区.通过分析不同波结构对总经度变化的贡献发现,一波结构在南半球中纬地区贡献最大,二波结构在12月前后的15°N附近贡献较大,三波结构和四波结构仅在低纬地区有较强贡献.在不同太阳活动条件下,不同波结构的贡献率有明显变化.     

地球磁层极尖区场向电子事件期间能量特性研究

根据Cluster卫星2001年9月30日在北半球极尖区观测到的一次强扰动场向电子事件数据,分析研究了这次事件期间场向电子的能量特性,讨论了场向电子对太阳风能量向磁层的传输和磁层-电离层耦合过程中能量传输的作用.分析认为,这次电子扰动事件期间电子速度和密度都具有很强的扰动变化,电子速度增加是一个主要特点.本次事件中低能段5~200eV和500~1500eV内的能谱分析结果表明,上行电子通量大于下行电子通量,上行电子主要来源于电离层,说明电离层上行电子在本次事件中具有非常活跃的作用.根据电离层中带电粒子的能量特征分析结果可知,这次事件中电离层起源的上行电子在上行过程中得到了加速.关于加速机制问题还有待深入研究.      

磁静日电离层电势分布的形态学研究

利用理论模式GCITEM，在国际地磁参考场（IGRF）下，模拟了地磁平静条件下的电离层发电机主导的中低纬电离层电势分布，研究了太阳活动、季节、世界时和低层大气潮汐对电离层电势的调节作用。结果表明，各种条件下中低纬电势全局分布基本一致，都具有两个正电势峰值（源）和一个负电荷峰值（汇）；电势分布存在明显的季节和世界时差异；中低纬电离层电势峰值差随着太阳活动的增强明显增加，并在一定太阳活动高值后趋于饱和；周日迁移潮主要影响赤道地区，导致电势峰值差增加，而半周日迁移潮主要影响中纬度地区，导致电势峰值差减小。     

NeQuick模式在亚太地区扇区电离层参数f0F2的预测能力

利用亚洲、澳大利亚地区8个电离层观测台站的F2层临界频率f0F2的历史观测数据,考察了NeQuick模式预报电离层基本参数f0F2在亚太扇区的适应性.对比分析表明,此模式能比较好地预测各地的F2层临界频率,其绝对误差在南半球各站相对北半球各站较大,太阳活动高年相对太阳活动低年较大,春秋季相对夏冬季较大.其误差均方根在太阳活动高年相对太阳活动低年较大.      

不同上边界条件下的极区电离层数值模拟

利用一维自洽的极区电离层模型,研究了沿磁力线方向不同电离层-磁层耦合条件下极区电离层的响应.此模型在110-610km的电离层空间区域内,综合求解描述极区电离层的连续性方程、动量方程和能量方程,以得到电离层数值解.研究发现,上边界条件在200 km以上的高度能显著地影响电离层参量的形态.较高的O+上行速度对应较低的F层峰值和较高的电子温度.不同边界O+上行速度对应的温度高度剖面完全不同.200km以上电子温度高度剖面不但由来自磁层的热流通量所控制,同时还受到场向O+速度的影响.对利用电离层模型研究电离层内部物理过程提出了建议.      

夜侧极区电离层对流对行星际激波的响应

利用超级双子极光雷达网（Super Dual Aurora Radar Network,SuperDARN）高频雷达、北半球IMAGE地磁台链以及南极中山站的极光观测数据,研究电离层对流对2012年7月14日一个行星际激波扰动事件的响应.在18:10UT行星际激波到达地球并与磁层相互作用触发地磁急始和磁层亚暴,SuperDARN雷达观测到北半球夜侧极区电离层对流显著增强,观测视野覆盖黄河站的Hankasalmi雷达观测到从激波到达地球至18:33UT,电离层F层出现剧烈扰动,雷达回波数明显增多,并出现局部对流速度反转现象.18:33UT之后,观测到F层出现三块速度高达600m·s-1的逆阳运动不规则体.而与Hankasalmi雷达地磁共轭的南半球Kerguelen雷达探测到的回波主要来自E层,回波数量几乎无变化,但是Kerguelen雷达观测视野内的中山站全天空光学成像仪观测到极光活动显著增强.南北半球夜侧电离层观测结果的差异,主要是由于它们分别处于极夜和极昼.      

基于IGS电离层TEC格网的扰动特征统计分析

电离层总电子含量（TEC）是研究空间天气特性的重要参量,通过分析电离层TEC,可以了解空间环境的变化特征.利用IGS提供的1999—2016年全球电离层TEC格网数据,按照地磁纬度将全球划分为高、中、中低、低磁纬四个区域,计算不同区域的电离层扰动;利用大量统计数据选取电离层扰动事件的判定阈值,分析电离层扰动与太阳活动、时空之间的关系;计算电离层扰动指数与地磁活动之间的相关系数.结果显示:电离层扰动与太阳活动变化具有较强的正相关特性.在太阳活动低年,电离层扰动事件发生的概率约为1.79%,在太阳活动高年发生扰动的概率约为10.18%.在空间分布上,无论是太阳活动高年还是低年,高磁纬地区发生扰动事件的概率均大于其他磁纬出现扰动事件的概率.计算得到的中磁纬和中低磁纬地区电离层扰动指数与全球地磁指数Ap的相关系数分别为0.57和0.56,说明电离层扰动指数与Ap具有较好的相关关系;高磁纬电离层扰动指数与Ap的相关系数为0.44;低磁纬扰动指数与Ap的相关系数为0.39.以上结果表明,不同区域电离层扰动与全球地磁指数Ap的相关性不同,测定区域地磁指数可能会提高与电离层扰动的相关性.      

On the relative abundance of helium ions in the topside ionosphere

Based on data from satellite INTERCOSMOS-BULGARIA-1300, the latitudinal distribution of oxygen and helium ions in the topside ionosphere is discussed for night-time equinox at high solar activity. A comparison with the corresponding IRI-79 distribution is made. The vertical IRI ion composition profile is checked with measurements made with VERTICAL-10 rocket. Some recommendations are made in order to improve the IRI-modelling of the ion composition in the topside ionosphere.     

Effects of solar activity variations on the low latitude topside nighttime ionosphere

We have studied the topside nighttime ionosphere of the low latitude region using data obtained from DMSP F15, ROCSAT-1, KOMPSAT-1, and GUVI on the TIMED satellite for the period of 2000–2004, during which solar activity decreased from its maximum. As these satellites operated at different altitudes, we were able to discriminate altitude dependence of several key ionospheric parameters on the level of solar activity. For example, with intensifying solar activity, electron density was seen to increase more rapidly at higher altitudes than at lower altitudes, implying that the corresponding scale height also increased. The density increased without saturation at all observed altitudes when plotted against solar EUV flux instead of F10.7. The results of the present study, as compared with those of previous studies for lower altitudes, indicate that topside vertical scale height increases with altitude and that, when solar activity increases, topside vertical scale height increases more rapidly at higher altitudes than at lower altitudes. Temperature also increased more rapidly at higher altitudes than at lower altitudes as solar activity increased. In addition, the height of the F2 peak was seen to increase with increasing solar activity, along with the oxygen ion fraction measured above the F2 peak. These results confirm that the topside ionosphere rises and expands with increasing solar activity.     

Mapping seasonal trends of electron temperature in the topside ionosphere based on DEMETER data

The diurnal, seasonal and latitudinal variations of the electron temperature in the Earth‘s topside ionosphere during relatively low solar activity period of 2005 – 2008 are investigated. In order to examine seasonal variations and morphology of the topside ionospheric plasma temperature, CNES micro-satellite DEMETER ISL data are used. Presented study is oriented on the dataset gathered in 2005 and 2008. Within conducted analysis, global maps of electron temperature for months of equinoxes and solstices have been developed. Furthermore, simultaneous studies on two-dimensional time series based on DEMETER measurements and predictions obtained with the IRI-2012 model supply examination of the topside ionosphere during recent deep solar minimum. Comparison with the IRI-2012 model reveals discrepancies between data and prediction, that are especially prominent during the periods of very low solar activity.     

Evaluation of the IRI-2016 and NeQuick electron content specification by COSMIC GPS radio occultation,ground-based GPS and Jason-2 joint altimeter/GPS observations

We examined performance of two empirical profile-based ionospheric models, namely IRI-2016 and NeQuick-2, in electron content (EC) and total electron content (TEC) representation for different seasons and levels of solar activity. We derived and analyzed EC estimates in several representative altitudinal intervals for the ionosphere and the plasmasphere from the COSMIC GPS radio occultation, ground-based GPS and Jason-2 joint altimeter/GPS observations. It allows us to estimate a quantitative impact of the ionospheric electron density profiles formulation in several altitudinal intervals and to examine the source of the model-data discrepancies of the EC specification from the bottom-side ionosphere towards the GPS orbit altitudes. The most pronounced model-data differences were found at the low latitude region as related to the equatorial ionization anomaly appearance. Both the IRI-2016 and NeQuick-2 models tend to overestimate the daytime ionospheric EC and TEC at low latitudes during all seasons of low solar activity. On the contrary, during high solar activity the model results underestimated the EC/TEC observations at low latitudes. We found that both models underestimated the EC for the topside ionosphere and plasmasphere regions for all levels of solar activity. For low solar activity, the underestimated EC from the topside ionosphere and plasmasphere can compensate the overestimation of the ionospheric EC and, consequently, can slightly decrease the resulted model overestimation of the ground-based TEC. For high solar activity, the underestimated EC from the topside ionosphere and plasmasphere leads to a strengthening of the model underestimation of the ground-based TEC values. We demonstrated that the major source of the model-data discrepancies in the EC/TEC domain comes from the topside ionosphere/plasmasphere system.     

Modelling bottom and topside electron density and TEC with profile data from topside ionograms

The paper describes the technique that has been implemented to model the electron density distribution above and below the F2 peak making use of only the profiles obtained from the INTERCOSMOS-19 topside ionograms. Each single profile from the satellite height to the ionosphere peak has been fitted by a semi-Epstein layer function of the type used in the DGR model with shape factor variable with altitude. The topside above the satellite height has been extrapolated to match given values of plasmaspheric electron densities to obtain the full topside profile. The bottomside electron density has been calculated by using the maximum electron density and its altitude estimated from the topside ionogram as input for a modified version of the DGR derived profiler that uses model values for the foF1 and foE layers of the ionosphere. Total electron content has also been calculated. Longitudinal cross sections of vertical profiles from latitudes 50° N to 50° S latitude are shown for low and high geomagnetic activity. These cross sections indicate the equatorial anomaly effect and the changes of the shape of low latitude topside ionosphere during geomagnetic active periods. These results and the potentiality of the technique are discussed.     

Solar cycle effect on temporal and spatial variation of topside ion density measured by SROSS C2 and ROCSAT 1 over the Indian longitude sector

We investigated the diurnal, seasonal and latitudinal variations of ion density Ni over the Indian low and equatorial topside ionosphere within 17.5°S to 17.5°N magnetic latitudes by combining the data from SROSS C2 and ROCSAT 1 for the 9 year period from 1995 to 2003 during solar cycle 23. The diurnal maximum density is found in the local noon or in the afternoon hours and the minimum occurs in the pre sunrise hours. The density is higher during the equinoxes as compared to that in the June and December solstice. The local time spread of the daytime maximum ion density increases with increase in solar activity. A north south asymmetry with higher ion density over northern hemisphere in the June solstice and over southern hemisphere in December solstice has been observed in moderate and high solar activity years. The crest to crest distance increases with increase in solar flux. Ion density bears a nonlinear relationship with F_10.7 cm solar flux and EUV flux in general. The density increases linearly with solar flux up to ∼150 sfu (1 sfu = 10⁻²²Wm⁻²Hz⁻¹) and EUV flux up to ∼50 units (10⁹ photons cm⁻² s⁻¹). But beyond this the density saturates. Inverse saturation and linear relationship have been observed in some season or latitude also. Inter-comparison of the three solar activity indices F_10.7 cm flux, EUV flux and F_10.7P (= (F_10.7 + F_10.7A)/2, where F_10.7A is the 81 day running average value of F_10.7) shows that the ion density correlates better with F_10.7P and F_10.7 cm fluxes. The annual average daytime total ion density from 1995 to 2003 follows a hysteresis loop as the solar cycle reverses. The ion density at 500 km over the Indian longitude sector as obtained by the international reference ionosphere is in general lower than the measured densities during moderate and high solar activity years. In low solar activity years the model densities are equal or higher than measured densities. The IRI EIA peaks are symmetric (±10°) in equinox while densities are higher at 10°N in June solstice and at 10°S in the December solstice. The model density follows F_10.7 linearly up to about F_10.7 > ∼150 sfu and then saturates.     

Ionospheric response to solar and magnetospheric protons during January 15–22, 2005: EAGLE whole atmosphere model results

We present an analysis of the ionosphere and thermosphere response to Solar Proton Events (SPE) and magnetospheric proton precipitation in January 2005, which was carried out using the model of the entire atmosphere EAGLE. The ionization rates for the considered period were acquired from the AIMOS (Atmospheric Ionization Module Osnabrück) dataset. For numerical experiments, we applied only the proton-induced ionization rates of that period, while all the other model input parameters, including the electron precipitations, corresponded to the quiet conditions. In January 2005, two major solar proton events with different energy spectra and proton fluxes occurred on January 17 and January 20. Since two geomagnetic storms and several sub-storms took place during the considered period, not only solar protons but also less energetic magnetospheric protons contributed to the calculated ionization rates. Despite the relative transparency of the thermosphere for high-energy protons, an ionospheric response to the SPE and proton precipitation from the magnetotail was obtained in numerical experiments. In the ionospheric E layer, the maximum increase in the electron concentration is localized at high latitudes, and at heights of the ionospheric F2 layer, the positive perturbations were formed in the near-equatorial region. An analysis of the model-derived results showed that changes in the ionospheric F2 layer were caused by a change in the neutral composition of the thermosphere. We found that in the recovery phase after both solar proton events and the enhancement of magnetospheric proton precipitations associated with geomagnetic disturbances, the TEC and electron density in the F region and in topside ionosphere/plasmasphere increase at low- and mid-latitudes due to an enhancement of atomic oxygen concentration. Our results demonstrate an important role of magnetospheric protons in the formation of negative F-region ionospheric storms. According to our results, the topside ionosphere/plasmasphere and bottom-side ionosphere can react to solar and magnetospheric protons both with the same sign of disturbances or in different way. The same statement is true for TEC and foF2 disturbances. Different disturbances of foF2 and TEC at high and low latitudes can be explained by topside electron temperature disturbances.     

Initial nighttime ionospheric observations with advanced ionospheric probe onboard FORMOSAT-5

FORMOSAT-5 satellite was launched into a sun-synchronous orbit at 720 km altitude with 98.28° inclination on 25 August 2017. The onboard scientific payload, Advanced Ionospheric Probe (AIP) is capable of measuring topside ionospheric ion density, cross-track flow velocities, ion composition and temperature, and electron temperature. Initial observations of nighttime midlatitude ionospheric density and vertical flow velocity variations at 2230 LT sector during a few quiet magnetic days in December 2017 are studied here. Longitudinal density variations in the equatorward edge of midlatitude ionospheric trough (MIT) region are noticed. Accompanied with this density variation, the vertical flow velocities also behave differently. Although the density difference has been stated due to zonal wind effect related to the declination of the geomagnetic field lines, the vertical flow velocity variation seems to play the opposite role. All these density and vertical flow observations in the northern winter hemisphere can only be explained by the longitudinal differences in the diffusion velocity coming down from the protonsphere (plasmasphere). In addition, the hemispheric asymmetry in the vertical flow velocity can also be explained by the interaction between the topside ionosphere and the protonsphere. The observed vertical flow variations near MIT at different longitudes should present a new potential tool for the study of MIT formation.