The subauroral electron density trough: Comparison between satellite observations and IRI-2007 model estimates

We compare electron density predictions of the International Reference Ionosphere (IRI-2007) model with in situ measurements of the satellites CHAMP and GRACE for the years from 2005 to 2010 over the subauroral regions. The electron density between 58° and 68° Mlat are considered. The trough region Ne peaks during local summers and attain the valley during local winter. Around −100°E and 60°E, two larger electron density sectors features can be seen in both hemispheres during all three seasons, which attributed to the electron extending from middle latitude to trough region. From 2005 to the beginning of 2010, the model overestimates the trough region Ne by 20% on average and the decrease of Ne in this region can also be seen during the last solar minimum. In the southern hemisphere, the model prediction shows quite well consistence with the observation during all three seasons while the huge difference between observations and model estimation implies that the IRI-2007 model needs significant improvement to predict better the trough region in northern hemisphere.