Longitudinal variation of the equatorial ionosphere: Modeling and experimental results

We describe a new version of the Parameterized Regional Ionospheric Model (PARIM) which has been modified to include the longitudinal dependences. This model has been reconstructed using multidimensional Fourier series. To validate PARIM results, the South America maps of critical frequencies for the E (foE) and F (foF2) regions were compared with the values calculated by Sheffield Plasmasphere-Ionosphere Model (SUPIM) and IRI representations. PARIM presents very good results, the general characteristics of both regions, mainly the presence of the equatorial ionization anomaly, were well reproduced for equinoctial conditions of solar minimum and maximum. The values of foF2 and hmF2 recorded over Jicamarca (12°S; 77°W; dip lat. 1°N; mag. declination 0.3°) and sites of the conjugate point equatorial experiment (COPEX) campaign Boa Vista (2.8°N; 60.7°W; dip lat. 11.4°; mag. declination −13.1°), Cachimbo (9.5°S; 54.8°W; dip lat. −1.8°; mag. declination −15.5°), and Campo Grande (20.4°S; 54.6°W; dip lat. −11.1°; mag. declination −14.0°) have been used in this work. foF2 calculated by PARIM show good agreement with the observations, except during morning over Boa Vista and midnight-morning over Campo Grande. Some discrepancies were also found for the F-region peak height (hmF2) near the geomagnetic equator during times of F₃ layer occurrences. IRI has underestimated both foF2 and hmF2 over equatorial and low latitude sectors during evening-nighttimes, except for Jicamarca where foF2 values were overestimated.     

Variability of the behavior of the bottomside (B0, B1) parameters obtained from the ground-based ionograms at China’s low latitude station

In this paper, data of (B0, B1) parameters deduced from the electron density profiles that are inverted from the ionograms recorded at Hainan (19.4°N, 109.0°E), China during a three year period from March 2002 to February 2005 are used to study the diurnal and seasonal variation of (B0, B1) parameters at low latitude. The observational results are compared with the IRI2001 model predictions. Variability study of (B0, B1) in terms of percentage ratio of the inter-quartiles to the median values and correlative analysis between (B0, B1) parameters and other ionospheric characteristics such as hmF2 and M(3000)F2 are also made. Our present study showed that: (1) for daytime hours, the IRI2001 model results with new table option (B0_Tab) is in a better agreement with the observational results (B0_Obs) than the IRI2001 model results with Gulyaeva option (B0_Gul) for summer season, whereas B0_Gul is in a better agreement with B0_Obs than B0_Tab for winter season. For nighttime, in general, B0_Gul is in a better agreement with B0_Obs than B0_Tab. For other occasions, both B0_Tab and B0_Gul showed some systematic deviations from the observational ones. Moreover, the deviations of B0_Tab and B0_Gul from B0_Obs showed opposite trends; (2) the monthly upper (lower) quartiles of (B0, B1) parameter showed a good linear relationship with the monthly median values, this makes it possible to do the regression analysis between the monthly upper (lower) quartiles and the monthly median values, which can give a measure of the variability of these parameters. In terms of the percentage ratio of the inter-quartiles to the median values, the variability of B0 showed a diurnal variation ranging between 22% and 36% with maximum value occurring at pre-sunrise hours, whereas the variability of B1 showed a diurnal variation ranging between 15% and 30% with higher value by daytime than at night; (3) B0 shows high linear correlative relationships with hmF2 and M(3000)F2 for most of the local time period of a day except for a few hours around midnight, whereas B1 showed high linear correlations with B0, hmF2 for daytime hours, but not for nighttime hours. This suggests that it maybe is possible to obtain the synthetic database of (B0, B1) parameter or to construct the model of (B0, B1) using database of hmF2 or M(3000)F2 which is much easier to obtain from experimental measurements.     

Validation of the STORM model in IRI-2001 at a high latitude station

The International Reference Ionosphere IRI-2001 model contains geomagnetic activity dependence based on an empirical storm time ionospheric correction (STORM model). An extensive validation of the STORM model for the middle latitude region has been performed. In this paper the ability of the STORM model to predict foF2 values at high latitudes is analyzed. For this, ionosonde data obtained at Base Gral. San Martin (68.1°S, 293°E) are compared with those obtained by the IRI-2001 model with or without storm correction during four geomagnetic storms that occurred in 2000 (Rz₁₂ = 117) and 2001 (Rz₁₂ = 111). The results show that predicted values with the STORM model follow the behaviour of foF2 experimental data better than without the STORM model. The relative deviation between measured and predicted foF2 reaches values of up to 24% and 43% with and without the STORM model in IRI-2001, during the main phase of the storms. In order to explain increases of electron density that occurred prior to the storm onset and also decreases of electron density observed during the first part of the recovery of the storm, possible physical mechanisms are discussed.     

IRI-2007预测TEC在广州地区的适用性分析

利用广州站(23.2°N, 113.3°E) GPS双频接收机监测的电离层TEC数据和IRI-2007模型不同电离层输入参数计算得到的TEC预测值, 对比分析了太阳活动低年(2008年)广州地区TEC的变化特征. 结果表明, TEC观测值周日变化在16:00LT左右达到最大值, 而IRI-TEC最大值出现时间较GPS-TEC提前1h左右. TEC季节变化在春秋分较高, 两至季节较低, 表现出明显的半年特性和季节依赖性, 并出现冬季异常现象. IRI-TEC与GPS-TEC在白天具有较好的一致性, 夜间偏差较大. 不同电离层输入参数得到的TEC预测值也相差较大, 选用顶部电子密度参数NeQuick、底部厚度参数B0 Table并用URSI系数计算F₂层峰值参数时, 能较好地反映TEC观测值的变化特征. 在对磁暴的响应上, 预测值无明显变化, 观测值则有比较明显的表现. 通过对比, 初步分析了利用IRI-2007模型预测TEC在广州地区的适用性, 并给出了合理的参数选择方案.     

Global comparison of the model results of GSM TIP with IRI for summer conditions

This paper presents the results of the numerical calculations thermosphere/ionosphere parameters which were executed with using of the Global Self-consistent Model of the Thermosphere, Ionosphere and Protonosphere (GSM TIP)and comparison of these results with empirically-based model IRI-2001. Model GSM TIP was developed in West Department of IZMIRAN and solves self-consistently the time-dependent, 3-D coupled equations of the momentum, energy and continuity for neutral particles (O₂, N₂, O), ions (O⁺, H⁺), molecular ions (M⁺) and electrons and largescale eletric field of the dynamo and magnetospheric origin in the range of height from 80 km to 15 Earth’s radii. The empirically derived IRI model describes the E and F regions of the ionosphere in terms of location, time, solar activity and season. Its output provides a global specification not only of N_e but also on the ion and electron temperatures and the ion composition. These two models represent a unique set of capabilities that reflect major differences in along with a substantial approaches of the first-principles model and global database model for the mapping ionosphere parameters. We focus on global distribution of the N_e, T_i, T_e and TEC for the one moment UT and fixed altitudes: 110 km, h_mF2, 300 km and 1000 km. The calculations were executed with using of GSM TIP and IRI models for August 1999, moderate solar activity and quiet geomagnetic conditions. Results present as the global differences between the IRI and GSM TIP models predictions. The discrepancies between model results are discussed.     

WAAS系统中电离层折射校正的新方法及计算结果

电离层介质的色散性是影响电磁波信号进行卫星导航定位精度的重要因素之一.配合北斗二代分系绩研制任务,提出了一种新的电离层折射校正算法,并利用2000年7月1日到3日的双频GPS观测数据对6个用户站进行试算,进一步将试算所得均方根误差和电离层网格算法得到的误差进行比较.结果表明,对于中纬区域的用户站,估算的TEC误差约为0.5 m左右;而低纬用户误差相对增大,为1 m左右.文中给出的算法与电离层网格模型所提供的精度相差不多,在未来中国自主的卫星增强系统中采用新方法进行电离层进行修正是可行的及有效的.     

A morphological study of GPS-TEC data at Agra and their comparison with the IRI model

The temporal and seasonal variations of Total Electron Content (TEC) are studied at Agra (Geographic Lat. 27.17°N, Long. 78.89°E, Dip: 41.4°), India, which is in the equatorial anomaly region, for a period of 12 months from 01 January to 31 December, 2007 using a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver. The mean TEC values show a minimum at 0500 h LT (LT = UT + 5.5 h) and a peak value at about 1400 h LT. The lowest TEC values are observed in winter whereas largest values are observed in equinox and summer. Anomalous variations are found during the period of magnetic disturbances. These results are compared with the TEC derived from IRI-2007 using three different options of topside electron density, NeQuick, IRI01-corr, and IRI-2001. A good agreement is found between the TEC obtained at Agra and those derived from IRI models.     

中性气体释放人工产生气辉

电离层中分子性的离子与电子的复合要比氧离子与电子的辐射性复合快得多,因此火箭发动机产生的尾气和空间等离子体主动实验中主动释放的中性气体会对电离层有很大的影响,这么大的电离层扰动现象在过去的实验中经常可以观测到.根据中性气体在热层背景中的扩散方程,考虑电离层F区主要的离子化学反应,研究了H2,H2O和CO2气体在电离层高度上的扩散过程和电离层对所释放气体的响应,计算了气辉的体发射系数和发射强度.结果表明,中性气体在电离层高度上扩散非常迅速,在F区的一些高度上,主要正离子成分由O+转变为其他分子离子,且在释放过程中伴随气辉发射,发射气辉的波长和特征与释放物质的种类有关.     

Comparison of peak characteristics of F2 ionospheric layer over Tehran region at a low solar activity period with IRI-2001 and IRI-2007 models predictions

In the present work values of peak electron density (NmF2) and height of F2 ionospheric layer (hmF2) over Tehran region at a low solar activity period are compared with the predictions of the International Reference Ionosphere models (IRI-2001 and IRI-2007). Data measured by a digital ionosonde at the ionospheric station of the Institute of Geophysics, University of Tehran from July 2006 to June 2007 are used to perform the calculations. Formulations proposed by  and  are utilized to calculate the hmF2. The International Union of Radio Science (URSI) and International Radio Consultative Committee (CCIR) options are employed to run the IRI-2001 and IRI-2007 models. Results show that both IRI-2007 and IRI-2001 can successfully predict the NmF2 and hmF2 over Tehran region. In addition, the study shows that predictions of IRI-2007 model with CCIR coefficient has closer values to the observations. Furthermore, it is found that the monthly average of the percentage deviation between the IRI models predictions and the values of hmF2 and NmF2 parameters are less than 10% and 21%, respectively.     

Comparison of ionospheric F2 peak parameters foF2 and hmF2 with IRI2001 at Hainan

Monthly median values of foF2, hmF2 and M(3000)F2 parameters, with quarter-hourly time interval resolution for the diurnal variation, obtained with DPS4 digisonde at Hainan (19.5°N, 109.1°E; Geomagnetic coordinates: 178.95°E, 8.1°N) are used to investigate the low-latitude ionospheric variations and comparisons with the International Reference Ionosphere (IRI) model predictions. The data used for the present study covers the period from February 2002 to April 2007, which is characterized by a wide range of solar activity, ranging from high solar activity (2002) to low solar activity (2007). The results show that (1) Generally, IRI predictions follow well the diurnal and seasonal variation patterns of the experimental values of foF2, especially in the summer of 2002. However, there are systematic deviation between experimental values and IRI predictions with either CCIR or URSI coefficients. Generally IRI model greatly underestimate the values of foF2 from about noon to sunrise of next day, especially in the afternoon, and slightly overestimate them from sunrise to about noon. It seems that there are bigger deviations between IRI Model predictions and the experimental observations for the moderate solar activity. (2) Generally the IRI-predicted hmF2 values using CCIR M(3000)F2 option shows a poor agreement with the experimental results, but there is a relatively good agreement in summer at low solar activity. The deviation between the IRI-predicted hmF2 using CCIR M(3000)F2 and observed hmF2 is bigger from noon to sunset and around sunrise especially at high solar activity. The occurrence time of hmF2 peak (about 1200 LT) of the IRI model predictions is earlier than that of observations (around 1500 LT). The agreement between the IRI hmF2 obtained with the measured M(3000)F2 and the observed hmF2 is very good except that IRI overestimates slightly hmF2 in the daytime in summer at high solar activity and underestimates it in the nighttime with lower values near sunrise at low solar activity.     

Variation in the ionospheric propagating factor M(3000)F2 at Ouagadougou,Burkina Faso

We use hourly monthly median values of propagation factor M(3000)F2 data observed at Ouagadougou Ionospheric Observatory (geographic12.4°N, 1.5°W; 5.9^o dip), Burkina Faso (West Africa) during the years Januar1987–December1988 (average F10.7 < 130 × 10⁻²² W/m²/Hz, representative of low solar flux conditions) and for January 1989–December1990 (average F10.7 ? 130 × 10⁻²² W/m²/Hz, representative of high solar epoch) for magnetically quiet conditions to describe local time, seasonal and solar cycle variations of equatorial ionospheric propagation factor M(3000)F2 in the African region. We show that that seasonal trend between solar maximum and solar minimum curves display simple patterns for all seasons and exhibits reasonable disparity with root mean square error (RMSE) of about 0.31, 0.29 and 0.26 for December solstice, June solstice and equinox, respectively. Variability Σ defined by the percentage ratio of the absolute standard deviation to the mean indicates significant dissimilarity for the two solar flux levels. Solar maximum day (10–14 LT) and night (22–02 LT) values show considerable variations than the solar minimum day and night values. We compare our observations with those of the IRI 2007 to validate the prediction capacity of the empirical model. We find that the IRI model tends to underestimate and overestimate the observed values of M(3000)F2, in particular, during June solstice season. There are large discrepancies, mainly during high solar flux equinox and December solstice between dawn and local midnight. On the other hand, IRI provides a slightly better predictions for M(3000)F2 between 0900 and 1500 LT during equinox low and high solar activity and equinox high sunspot number. Our data are of great importance in the area of short-wave telecommunication and ionospheric modeling.     

Science rational for MIERS/IRI collaboration

In this paper, we will shortly highlight some of the aspects that COST Action 296 on Mitigation of Ionospheric Effects on Radio Systems (MIERS) and International Reference Ionosphere (IRI) have in common in an attempt to define science rationale for collaboration between these two international projects.     

Ionospheric behavior of the F2 peak parameters foF2 and hmF2 at Hainan and comparisons with IRI model predictions

Monthly median values of foF2, hmF2 and M(3000)F2 parameters, with hourly time interval resolution for the diurnal variation, obtained with DPS-4 digisonde observations at Hainan (19.4°N, 109.0°E) are used to study the low latitude ionospheric variation behavior. The observational results are compared with the International Reference Ionospheric Model (IRI) predictions. The time period coverage of the data used for the present study is from March 2002 to February 2005. Our present study showed that: (1) In general, IRI predictions using CCIR and URSI coefficients follow well the diurnal and seasonal variation patterns of the experimental values of foF2. However, CCIR foF2 and URSI foF2 IRI predictions systematically underestimate the observed results during most time period of the day, with the percentage difference ΔfoF2 (%) values changing between about −5% and −25%, whereas for a few hours around pre-sunrise, the IRI predictions generally overestimate the observational ones with ΔfoF2 (%) sometimes reaching as large as ∼30%. The agreement between the IRI results and the observational ones is better for the year 2002 than for the other years. The best agreement between the IRI results and the observational ones is obtained in summer when using URSI coefficients, with the seasonal average values of ΔfoF2 (%) being within the limits of ±10%. (2) In general, the IRI predicted hmF2 values using CCIR M(3000)F2 option shows a poor agreement with the observational results. However, when using the measured M(3000)F2 as input, the diurnal variation pattern of hmF2 given by IRI2001 has a much better agreement with the observational one with the detailed fine structures including the pre-sunrise and post-sunset peaks reproduced reasonably well. The agreement between the IRI predicted hmF2 values using CCIR M(30,000)F2 option and the observational ones is worst for the afternoon to post-midnight hours for the high solar activity year 2002. During daytime hours the agreement between the hmF2 values obtained with CCIR M(30,000)F2 option and the observational ones is best for summer season. The discrepancy between the observational hmF2 and that obtained with CCIR M(30,000)F2 option stem from the CCIR M(3000)F2 model, which does not produce the small scale structures observed in the measured M(3000)F2.     

电离层峰下结构的数值模拟

在考虑由扩散与中性风引起的动力学输运与有原子离子Ｏ＾＋（＾４Ｓ），Ｏ＾＋（＾２Ｄ）与Ｏ＾＋（＾２Ｐ）以及分子离子Ｏ２＾＋，ＮＯ＾＋，Ｎ２＾＋参加光化学反应的电离层－热层体系中，提出一个一维时变的电离层剖面数值模型，通过数值计算着重讨论了武昌地区Ｆ２层峰以下，尤其是Ｅ／Ｆ与Ｆ１／Ｆ２谷区的电离层形态与有关过程，得到如下结论：（１）对于原子离子，单一成分Ｏ＾＋（＾４Ｓ）的光化学反应与输运，也有助于形成     

基于佳木斯雷达与北海道东雷达观测的F层不规则体回波发生率

利用佳木斯和北海道东高频相干散射雷达的观测数据,对2018年3月至2019年11月期间两部雷达观测到的F层高度的不规则体回波信号发生率的分布特征进行了对比分析。比较了在地磁平静期（Kp < 3）和地磁扰动期（Kp > 3）的不规则体回波发生率变化特征,分析了回波发生率在昏侧与晨侧增强的现象和纬度变化特征。昏侧回波发生率增强现象在45°－64° MLAT范围内普遍存在,其中55°－64° MLAT的回波发生率在地磁扰动期明显增强。而晨侧回波发生率增强现象主要分布在45°－54° MLAT的地区,除了春秋分季外,地磁扰动的增强对其影响较弱。中纬日侧回波发生率受地磁活动影响较小。     

我国电离层基本参量与国际参考模式的比较

本文利用我国满洲里、北京、武昌、重庆和广州等台站电离层观测记录,对各层临界频率的实测值(月中值)与IRI-86的计算值进行了分析比较.|发现两者存在着显著而系统的偏离.E层和F₁层偏离较小F₂层偏离较大,其相对值有时超过60%.总的来说,f₀F₂的相对偏离:夜间大,白天小冬季大,夏季小太阳活动低年大,高年小随着纬度降低偏离增大模式值普遍大于实测值.     

On the use of NeQuick topside option in IRI-2007

The latest version of IRI includes various options for the computation of the topside electron density profile. One of the possible choices is based on NeQuick model. Its inclusion in IRI has been made transferring all the formulations used in NeQuick model. In details, an Epstein layer function is used to describe the electron density profile and the topside shape is controlled by an empirical parameter, connected to the NeQuick F2 bottomside thickness parameter, B2bot. It is computed also in this IRI topside option in order to maintain self-consistency with its original formulation. This paper analyses the possibility of using the IRI bottomside parameters for this option and its impact on the profile and TEC. The case of experimental peak values given as input is also analysed.