NDLI: Ionosphere and plasmasphere electron density profiles

Content Provider	IEEE Xplore Digital Library
Author	Reinisch, B.
Copyright Year	2014
Description	Author affiliation: Lowell Digisonde Int., Univ. of Massachusetts Lowell, Lowell, MA, USA (Reinisch, B.)
Abstract	Summary form only given. The ionosphere-plasmasphere region of Earth's environment extends from ~60 km altitude above the surface to a geocentric distance of roughly 4 $R_{E}.$ Radio wave propagation in this region is predominantly controlled by the electron density distribution and the geomagnetic field. Measuring and modeling the electron density profiles Ne in this near Earth plasma regime has been a challenge ever since this space plasma regime was discovered, almost one hundred years ago. Great progress has been made in specifying the Ne profiles, especially in the ionosphere, as a function of time, location, season, and solar and magnetic activity, and yet, many open questions remin. Early observations with groundbased ionosondes and partial reflection radars discovered the non-monotonic structure of the ionosphere with densities peaking at ~90 km (D layer), ~110 km (E layer), ~150 km (F1 layer or ledge), and ~300 km (F2 layer). The global network of ionosondes routinely monitors the bottomside ionosphere up to hmF2, the height of the F2 peak (http://spidr.ngdc.noaa.gov/spidr/; http://giro.uml.edu/). Rocket measurements provided the most reliable profile information on the D layer profiles, but of course only at a few places and at a few times. The most thoroughly tested ionospheric profiles are arguably given by the IRI, an empirical model that uses readily measurable characteristics like foF2, hmF2, etc. for its specification as shown in Figure 1. Beginning in the middle of the last century, satellite and incoherent scatter radar (ISR) observations extended the density measurements above the height of the F2 layer peak and into the plasmasphere. The ISRs operate on frequencies well above foF2, the maximum plasma frequency in the ionosphere, and can measure Ne up to ~1000 km, and also electron and ion temperatures, which are important for the development of physics-based ionospheric models. From the mid-1960s to the late 1970s, the US/Canadian Alouette and ISIS satellites carried topside sounders that measured the topside Ne profiles from the satellite altitude down to hmF2 (http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/space/isis/isis-status.html). The currently used topside profile models are largely based on these data. The Japanese ISS-b and Ohzora satellites also carried topside sounders. Topside Ne profile data form the Russian Cosmos-1809 and Intercosmos-19 satellites are available on http://antares.izmiran.rssi.ru/ projects/IK19/. Sounders (ionosondes) provide the most reliable Ne profile information, however there are currently no topside sounders measuring the topside ionosphere. Instead, indirect techniques have been developed in recent decades that invert transionospheric radio signals from satellites into electron density profiles using tomography and radio-occultation techniques. Earth's plasmasphere is the upward extension of the low- and mid-latitude ionosphere. Also filled with cold plasma, it extends to the plasmapause located along the L≈4 shell during magnetically quiet conditions, but this boundary is highly dynamic varying from ~2-7 $R_{E}.$ In situ Ne measurements in the plasmasphere were made by instruments on a range of satellites, e.g., on LUNIK, OGOxx, IMP2, GEOS 1 and 2, ELECTRON 2 and 4, INTERCOSMOS, ISEE1, CLUSTER, and others. These in situ density data have been statistically analyzed to derive “average” plasmaspheric electron density distributions for different conditions and regions. In contrast to these in situ measurements, a VLF sounder on IMAGE made instantaneous measurements of entire profiles along the geomagnetic field line passing through the satellite. 2-D density distributions from L=1.5 to L=4 are obtained within ~20 min of observation (Figure 2).
Starting Page	1
Ending Page	2
File Size	1565482
Page Count	2
File Format	PDF
ISBN	9781467352253
DOI	10.1109/URSIGASS.2014.6929871
Language	English
Publisher	Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
Publisher Date	2014-08-16
Publisher Place	China
Access Restriction	Subscribed
Rights Holder	Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
Subject Keyword	Temperature measurement Satellites Density measurement Satellite broadcasting Plasma measurements Plasmas Ionosphere
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article

Sl.	Authority	Responsibilities	Communication Details
1	Ministry of Education (GoI), Department of Higher Education	Sanctioning Authority	https://www.education.gov.in/ict-initiatives
2	Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	Host Institute of the Project: The host institute of the project is responsible for providing infrastructure support and hosting the project	https://www.iitkgp.ac.in
3	National Digital Library of India Office, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	The administrative and infrastructural headquarters of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in
4	Project PI / Joint PI	Principal Investigator and Joint Principal Investigators of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in Prof. Saswat Chakrabarti will be added soon
5	Website/Portal (Helpdesk)	Queries regarding NDLI and its services	support@ndl.gov.in
6	Contents and Copyright Issues	Queries related to content curation and copyright issues	content@ndl.gov.in
7	National Digital Library of India Club (NDLI Club)	Queries related to NDLI Club formation, support, user awareness program, seminar/symposium, collaboration, social media, promotion, and outreach	clubsupport@ndl.gov.in
8	Digital Preservation Centre (DPC)	Assistance with digitizing and archiving copyright-free printed books	dpc@ndl.gov.in
9	IDR Setup or Support	Queries related to establishment and support of Institutional Digital Repository (IDR) and IDR workshops	idr@ndl.gov.in

Results of the plasma wave sounder experiments on board the Akebono satellite in the topside ionosphere and plasmasphere

Determination of the electron density in the plasmasphere using data from the GPS satellites

Some features of artificial ionosphere turbulence excited by the Sura heating facility

Study of topside electron density profiles obtained by cosmic satellites and an ionosonde over Cyprus during a four year period

Electron density and electron temperature in pulsed atmospheric pressure air plasmas

Calibration of electron density obtained from whistler inversion with in-situ satellite measurements

Experimental evidences of pre-seismic effects in the Earth's ionosphere as a reason for neutral density and temperature measurements onboard microsatellites

Electron density and temperature measurements in pulsed atmospheric pressure air plasmas

The structure of the topside ionosphere deduced from Alouette data

Ionosphere and plasmasphere electron density profiles

Similar Documents

Results of the plasma wave sounder experiments on board the Akebono satellite in the topside ionosphere and plasmasphere

Determination of the electron density in the plasmasphere using data from the GPS satellites

Some features of artificial ionosphere turbulence excited by the Sura heating facility

Study of topside electron density profiles obtained by cosmic satellites and an ionosonde over Cyprus during a four year period

Electron density and electron temperature in pulsed atmospheric pressure air plasmas

Calibration of electron density obtained from whistler inversion with in-situ satellite measurements

Experimental evidences of pre-seismic effects in the Earth's ionosphere as a reason for neutral density and temperature measurements onboard microsatellites

Electron density and temperature measurements in pulsed atmospheric pressure air plasmas

The structure of the topside ionosphere deduced from Alouette data

Ionosphere and plasmasphere electron density profiles