Statistical modelling of radio wave propagation under sporadic E-Layer influence

A technique of modelling the one-hop radio wave propagation at middle latitudes in the presence of sporadic E-Layer is presented. The technique is focused on the performance of the long-term forecast of the maximum usable frequency range and on the increase of the radio communication reliability. Examples of calculation for medium-distance paths are shown.     

Oblique-incidence ionospheric soundings over Central Europe and their application for testing now casting and long term prediction models

After a first oblique-incidence ionospheric sounding campaign over Central Europe performed during the period 2003–2004 over the radio links between Inskip (UK, 53.5°N, 2.5°W) and Rome (Italy, 41.8°N, 12.5°E) and between Inskip and Chania (Crete, 35.7°N, 24.0°E), new and more extensive analysis of systematic MUF measurements from January 2005 to December 2006 have been performed. MUF measurements collected during moderately disturbed days (17 ? Ap ? 32), disturbed days (32 < Ap ? 50) and very disturbed days (Ap > 50), have been used to test the long term prediction models (ASAPS, ICEPAC and SIRM&LKW), and the now casting models (SIRMUP&LKW and ISWIRM&LKW). The performances of the different prediction methods in terms of r.m.s are shown for selected range of geomagnetic activity and for each season.     

Towards a GPS-based TEC prediction model for Southern Africa with feed forward networks

In this paper, first results from a national Global Positioning System (GPS) based total electron content (TEC) prediction model over South Africa are presented. Data for 10 GPS receiver stations distributed through out the country were used to train a feed forward neural network (NN) over an interval of at most five years. In the NN training, validating and testing processes, five factors which are well known to influence TEC variability namely diurnal variation, seasonal variation, magnetic activity, solar activity and the geographic position of the GPS receivers were included in the NN model. The database consisted of 1-min data and therefore the NN model developed can be used to forecast TEC values 1 min in advance. Results from the NN national model (NM) were compared with hourly TEC values generated by the earlier developed NN single station models (SSMs) at Sutherland (32.38°S, 20.81°E) and Springbok (29.67°S, 17.88°E), to predict TEC variations over the Cape Town (33.95°S, 18.47°E) and Upington (28.41°S, 21.26°E) stations, respectively, during equinoxes and solstices. This revealed that, on average, the NM led to an improvement in TEC prediction accuracy compared to the SSMs for the considered testing periods.     

Ionospheric slab thickness – Analysis, modelling and monitoring

A review of the climatological and storm-time behaviour of the ionospheric slab thickness is presented based on long-time observations at a European mid-latitude site, Dourbes (50.1°N, 04.6°E), and on published results from other studies. An operational electron density and slab thickness monitoring system, established to provide real-time characterisation of the local ionospheric dynamics, is outlined together with some exemplary results.     

Storm time behavior of topside scale height inferred from the ionosphere–plasmasphere model driven by the F2 layer peak and GPS-TEC observations

The International Reference Ionosphere model extended to the plasmasphere, IRI-Plas, presents global electron density profiles and total electron content, TECiri, up to the altitude of the GPS satellites (20,000 km). The model code is modified by input of GPS-derived total electron content, TECgps, so that the topside scale height, Hsc, is obtained minimizing in one step the difference between TECiri and TECgps observation. The topside basis scale height, Hsc, presents the distance in km above the peak height at which the peak plasma density, NmF2, decays by a factor of e (∼2.718). The ionosonde derived F2 layer peak density and height and GPS-derived TECgps data are used with IRI-Plas code during the main phase of more than 100 space weather storms for a period of 1999–2006. Data of seven stations are used for the analysis, and data from five other stations served as testing database. It is found that the topside basis scale height is growing (depressing) when the peak electron density (critical frequency foF2) and electron content are decreased (increased) compared to the median value, and vice versa. Relative variability of the scale height, rHsc, and the instantaneous Hsc are inferred analytically in a function of the instantaneous foF2, median fmF2 and median Hmsc avoiding a reference to geomagnetic indices. Results of validation suggest reliability of proposed algorithm for implementation in an operational mode.     

A review of observed variability in the dayside ionosphere of Mars

Recent measurements by Mars Global Surveyor and Mars Express have greatly increased the number of observations of the martian dayside ionosphere available for study. Together with earlier measurements from the Viking era, these datasets have been used to investigate variations in well-known properties of the martian dayside ionosphere and to discover new ionospheric features. The dayside ionosphere includes the main peak, called the M2 layer, and a lower layer, called the M1 layer. In the topside, above the M2 layer, electron densities exponentially decrease with increasing altitude.     

Ionospheric response to the 3 August 2010 geomagnetic storm at mid and mid-high latitudes

The global ionospheric response to the geomagnetic storm occurred of 3 August 2010 is studied in terms of the ionospheric parameter foF2. Data from three longitudinal sectors (Asia/Pacific, Europe/Africa and America) are considered. Some new aspects of the storm time ionospheric behavior are revealed. Results of the analysis show that the main ionospheric effects of the storm under consideration are: (a) prior to the storm, Japanese, Australian and American stations show increases in foF2, irrespective of the local time. (b) During the main phase, the stations of mid latitudes of the American sector show positive disturbances (in the pre-dusk hours), which subsequently change to negative. (c) During the recovery phase of the magnetic storm long-duration positive disturbances are observed at mid-low latitudes of the African chain. Also positive disturbances are observed in the Australian sector. In the European sector long-duration negative disturbances are seen at mid-high latitudes during the last part of the recovery phase while at mid-low latitudes a positive disturbance is seen, followed by a negative disturbance. In general, the ionospheric storm effects show a clear hemispheric asymmetry.     

JUXTA: A new probe of X-ray emission from the Jupiter system

For the future Japanese exploration mission of the Jupiter’s magnetosphere (JMO: Jupiter Magnetospheric Orbiter), a unique instrument named JUXTA (Jupiter X-ray Telescope Array) is being developed. It aims at the first in-situ measurement of X-ray emission associated with Jupiter and its neighborhood. Recent observations with Earth-orbiting satellites have revealed various X-ray emission from the Jupiter system. X-ray sources include Jupiter’s aurorae, disk emission, inner radiation belts, the Galilean satellites and the Io plasma torus. X-ray imaging spectroscopy can be a new probe to reveal rotationally driven activities, particle acceleration and Jupiter–satellite binary system. JUXTA is composed of an ultra-light weight X-ray telescope based on micromachining technology and a radiation-hard semiconductor pixel detector. It covers 0.3–2 keV with the energy resolution of <100 eV at 0.6 keV. Because of proximity to Jupiter (∼30 Jovian radii at periapsis), the image resolution of <5 arcmin and the on-axis effective area of >3 cm² at 0.6 keV allow extremely high photon statistics and high resolution observations.     

Sq（Y）的季节变化和场向电流

本文对中国东部地磁台站链地磁静日变化东向分量进行了分析,有结果表明,在冬、夏季清晨,南北半球之间存在着电离层发电机驱动的场向电流,其方向是从夏季半球到冬季半球;在黄昏,也可能存在方向相反的电流。     

武汉地区电离层电子浓度总含量的统计经验模式研究

由武汉电离层观象台一个太阳黑子周期（1980-1990年）的实测电离层电子浓度总含量（TEC）资料，统计分析得出了武汉地区的一个TEC经验模式，模式很好地再现了武汉地区的TEC观测值，其预测误差在太阳活动高年稍太，低年较小；在春秋两季稍大，冬夏两季较小；在当地时间白天和傍晚稍大，夜间和早晨较小。此外，与国际参考电离层模式IRI的计算结果比较，本模式预测的TEC值更接近于实际观测结果，同时，本文也初步探讨了TEC的半年变化特征和冬季异常现象。