Prospects for an ionospheric index of neutral thermospheric composition, with space-weather applications

Statistics – Applications

Scientific paper

Rate now

  [ 0.00 ] – not rated yet Voters 0   Comments 0

Details

Atmospheric Composition And Structure: Thermosphere-Composition And Chemistry, Ionosphere: Ionospheric Disturbances, Ionosphere: Modeling And Forecasting, Ionosphere: Instruments And Techniques

Scientific paper

We address the need for an easily observable indicator of thermospheric state, and particularly one sensitive to the neutral concentration ratio, [O]/[N2]. Accepting foF2 as the observable of choice, several options for a derived thermospheric daily index are considered; these include midday and nighttime mean values of foF22, and others based on the rate of change of foF22 during sunrise, which might serve as indicators of [O]/[N2]. We show the global morphology of a promising sunrise index over more than three solar cycles, derived from data in the National Geophysical Data Center Ionospheric Digital Database (NGDC/IDD) and similar databases. There are well-defined dependencies on solar activity, season, geography, and storm-disturbance level. We compare the indices to ESRO4 satellite global observations of [O]/[N2] and find correlation coefficients as low as 0.3 (southern winter) and as high as 0.8 (close passes, all data), depending upon hemisphere and season, satellite/ground-site proximity, satellite altitude, etc. Using median foF22 to compare our sunrise index to the Mass Spectrometer-Incoherent Scatter (MSIS-90) model atmosphere at a constant pressure level, we find similar latitude variations in three longitude sectors and two solar cycle extremes. A successful index of [O]/[N2], available daily from monitoring ionosondes (and perhaps from Global Positioning System/Total Electron Content (GPS/TEC) monitors, derived similarly), would have important applications in aeronomy, space weather, and telecommunications forecasting.

No associations

LandOfFree

Say what you really think

Search LandOfFree.com for scientists and scientific papers. Rate them and share your experience with other people.

Rating

Prospects for an ionospheric index of neutral thermospheric composition, with space-weather applications does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with Prospects for an ionospheric index of neutral thermospheric composition, with space-weather applications, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Prospects for an ionospheric index of neutral thermospheric composition, with space-weather applications will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

     

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1002234

  Search
All data on this website is collected from public sources. Our data reflects the most accurate information available at the time of publication.