121 research outputs found

    Critical issues in ionospheric data quality and implications for scientific studies

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    Ionospheric data are valuable records of the behavior of the ionosphere, solar activity, and the entire Sun-Earth system. The data are critical for both societally important services and scientific investigations of upper atmospheric variability. This work investigates some of the difficulties and pitfalls in maintaining long-term records of geophysical measurements. This investigation focuses on the ionospheric parameters contained in the historical data sets within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Geophysical Data Center and Space Physics Interactive Data Resource databases. These archives include data from approximately 100 ionosonde stations worldwide, beginning in the early 1940s. Our study focuses on the quality and consistency of ionosonde data accessible via the primary Space Physics Interactive Data Resource node located within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Geophysical Data Center and the World Data Center for Solar-Terrestrial Physics located in Boulder, Colorado. We find that, although the Space Physics Interactive Data Resource archives contained an impressive amount of high-quality data, specific problems existed involving missing and noncontiguous data sets, long-term variations or changes in methodologies and analysis procedures used, and incomplete documentation. The important lessons learned from this investigation are that the data incorporated into an archive must have clear traceability back to the primary source, including scientific validation by the contributors, and that the historical records must have associated metadata that describe relevant nuances in the observations. Although this report only focuses on historical ionosonde data in National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration databases, we feel that these findings have general applicability to environmental scientists interested in using long-term geophysical data sets for climate and global change research.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

    Automated collection and dissemination of ionospheric data from the digisonde network

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    The growing demand for fast access to accurate ionospheric electron density profiles and ionospheric characteristics calls for efficient dissemination of data from the many ionosondes operating around the globe. The global digisonde network with over 70 stations takes advantage of the Internet to make many of these sounders remotely accessible for data transfer and control. Key elements of the digisonde system data management are the visualization and editing tool SAO Explorer, the digital ionogram database DIDBase, holding raw and derived digisonde data under an industrial-strength database management system, and the automated data request execution system ADRES

    Modeling Ionosphere Environments: Creating an ISS Electron Density Tool

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    The International Space Station (ISS) maintains an altitude typically between 300 km and 400 km in low Earth orbit (LEO) which itself is situated in the Earth's ionosphere. The ionosphere is a region of partially ionized gas (plasma) formed by the photoionization of neutral atoms and molecules in the upper atmosphere of Earth. It is important to understand what electron density the spacecraft is/will be operating in because the ionized gas along the ISS orbit interacts with the electrical power system resulting in charging of the vehicle. One instrument that is already operational onboard the ISS with a goal of monitoring electron density, electron temperature, and ISS floating potential is the Floating Potential Measurement Unit (FPMU). Although this tool is a valuable addition to the ISS, there are limitations concerning the data collection periods. The FPMU uses the Ku band communication frequency to transmit data from orbit. Use of this band for FPMU data runs is often terminated due to necessary observation of higher priority Extravehicular Activities (EVAs) and other operations on ISS. Thus, large gaps are present in FPMU data. The purpose of this study is to solve the issue of missing environmental data by implementing a secondary electron density data source, derived from the COSMIC satellite constellation, to create a model of ISS orbital environments. Extrapolating data specific to ISS orbital altitudes, we model the ionospheric electron density along the ISS orbit track to supply a set of data when the FPMU is unavailable. This computer model also provides an additional new source of electron density data that is used to confirm FPMU is operating correctly and supplements the original environmental data taken by FPMU

    Intensity Thresholds and the Statistics of the Temporal Occurrence of Solar Flares

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    Introducing thresholds to analyze time series of emission from the Sun enables a new and simple definition of solar flare events, and their interoccurrence times. Rescaling time by the rate of events, the waiting and quiet time distributions both conform to scaling functions that are independent of the intensity threshold over a wide range. The scaling functions are well described by a two parameter function, with parameters that depend on the phase of the solar cycle. For flares identified according to the current, standard definition, similar behavior is found.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, revtex

    On Global Ionospheric Maps based winter-time GPS ionospheric delay with reference to the Klobuchar model: Case study of the Northern Adriatic

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    Modelling of the ionospheric Total Electron Content (TEC) represents a challenging and demanding task in Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) positioning performance. In terms of satellite Positioning, Navigation and Timing (PNT), TEC represents a significant cause of the satellite signal ionospheric delay. There are several approaches to TEC estimation. The Standard (Klobuchar) ionospheric delay correction model is the most common model for Global Positioning System (GPS) single-frequency (L1) receivers. The development of International GNSS Service (IGS) Global Ionospheric Maps (GIM) has enabled the insight into global TEC dynamics. GIM analyses in the Northern Adriatic area have shown that, under specific conditions, local ionospheric delay patterns differ from the one defined in the Klobuchar model. This has been the motivation for the presented research, with the aim to develop a rudimentary model of the TEC estimation, with emphasis on areas where ground truth data are not available. The local pattern of the ionospheric delay has been modelled with wave functions based on the similarity of waveforms, considering diurnal differences in TEC behavior from defined TEC patterns. The model represents a spatiotemporal winter-time ionospheric delay correction with the Klobuchar model as a basis. The evaluation results have shown accurate approximation of the local pattern of the ionospheric delay. The model was verified in the same seasonal period in 2007, revealing it successfulness under pre-defined conditions. The presented approach represents a basis for the further work on the local ionospheric delay modelling, considering local ionospheric and space weather conditions, thus improving the satellite positioning performance for single-frequency GNSS receivers

    A new global model for the ionospheric F2 peak height for radio wave propagation

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    The F2-layer peak density height <I>hm</I>F2 is one of the most important ionospheric parameters characterizing HF propagation conditions. Therefore, the ability to model and predict the spatial and temporal variations of the peak electron density height is of great use for both ionospheric research and radio frequency planning and operation. For global <I>hm</I>F2 modelling we present a nonlinear model approach with 13 model coefficients and a few empirically fixed parameters. The model approach describes the temporal and spatial dependencies of <I>hm</I>F2 on global scale. For determining the 13 model coefficients, we apply this model approach to a large quantity of global <I>hm</I>F2 observational data obtained from GNSS radio occultation measurements onboard CHAMP, GRACE and COSMIC satellites and data from 69 worldwide ionosonde stations. We have found that the model fits to these input data with the same root mean squared (RMS) and standard deviations of 10%. In comparison with the electron density NeQuick model, the proposed Neustrelitz global <I>hm</I>F2 model (Neustrelitz Peak Height Model – NPHM) shows percentage RMS deviations of about 13% and 12% from the observational data during high and low solar activity conditions, respectively, whereas the corresponding deviations for the NeQuick model are found 18% and 16%, respectively
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