Ionospheric Ground-based Measurement Networks

Critical to the ionospheric monitoring and modelling processes whether they are related to the theoretical investigations, the space weather prediction services or the planning and operation of radio systems is a modern network of ground-based synoptic instruments making regular measurements. A short review of the principal types of ionospheric ground-based measurement networks currently available in Europe is followed by brief survey of the particular problems associated with a timely and user-friendly fashion of data delivery for assimilation purposes.     

Ionospheric composition in SAR-arcs

The high electron temperatures existing within SAR-arcs can result in enhanced vibrational excitation of atmospheric N₂ molecules and, as a consequence, increase the rate coefficient of the reaction, O⁺ + N₂ → NO⁺ + N. This results in a change in the relative abundance of O⁺ and NO⁺+ in the SAR-arc region compared with that in the undisturbed ionosphere. Theoretical ion density profiles were computed by a triple ion analysis solving the mass, momentum and energy equations for O⁺, NO⁺ and O⁺₂ ions self-consistently. Although the electron temperature dependence of the recombination rate of NO⁺ is not well known, the results show that for a range of expected recombination rates NO⁺ still remains the dominant ion up to ca. 320 km at night within a bright SAR-arc. Studies were also made of the relative importance of a downward O⁺ flux and an upward ion drift in maintaining the F-region under SAR-arc conditions. It was found that the upward drift caused a marked increase in the NO⁺/O⁺ transition altitude as high as 460 km at night. However, for typical drift speeds up to 50 m sec^?1 the peak electron density was lower than experimental observations. The effect of a large, short-duration perpendicular electric field on the SAR-arc ion and electron density profiles was found to be small. In all cases considered the magnitude of the enhanced NO⁺ density as a result of vibrationally excited N₂ molecules was sufficient to prevent the electron density within the night-time SAR-arc from becoming vanishingly small.     

电离层对GPS测距的影响

利用单层电离层改正模型就GPS卫星高度角对测距的影响作了探讨。研究表明，通常采用的单层电离层改正模型中电离层高取均值对低高度角卫星测距的改正是不适应的，利用单层电离层模型改正时应顾及电离层高的变化。最后利用1986年武汉地区实测TEC数据进行了计算并将结果和IRI－90模型计算结果作了分析比较。     

Ionospheric warming by neutral winds

The effect of frictional heating by means of neutral winds on the ion and electron temperature in the undisturbed ionosphere is studied theoretically by solving a system of basic ionospheric and atmospheric equations. The study shows that both the electron and ion temperatures are increased in the night-time ionosphere through friction. In the region between 150 and 200 km T_i may exceed T₆ by as much as 130°. The increase of T_i due to friction amounts to about 100–200°, depending on the atmospheric model employed in calculating the neutral wind velocity. It is illustrated that frictional heating may be very important for the determination of the neutral temperature from measured ion temperature values.     

Ionospheric dynamo calculations with semidiurnal winds

Equivalent circuit method calculations using ‘2,2’ and ‘2,4’ mode semidiurnal winds yield sample variations of electric currents and fields at various latitudes. The positions of the current system foci are found to vary much more with longitude than with season. Observed seasonal changes in lunar current system foci must be due to changes in winds rather than in conductivities.     

Ionospheric layers of Mars and Earth

We compare the electron densities of two martian ionospheric layers, which we call M1 and M2, measured by Mars Global Surveyor during 9-27 March 1999, with the electron densities of the terrestrial E and F1 layers derived from ionosonde data at six sites. The day-to-day variations are all linked to changes in solar activity, and provide the opportunity of making the first simultaneous study of four photochemical layers in the solar system. The ‘ionospheric layer index’, which we introduce to characterize ionospheric layers in general, varies between layers because different atmospheric chemistry and solar radiations are involved. The M2 and F1 layer peaks occur at similar atmospheric pressure levels, and the same applies to the M1 and E layers.     

Ionospheric dispersion and Pc 1 pulsations

Dispersion measurements were performed on geomagnetic pulsation data recorded over an Australasian network in a search for evidence of ionospheric dispersion of Pc 1 signals. A method of analysis was adopted in which the slope of emission elements of a selected Pc 1 event are examined individually. It has been found that there are no significant ionospheric dispersion effects for propagation between middle and low latitudes. Magnetospheric propagation paths calculated from dispersion measurements show large variations and are not considered generally reliable.     

电离层延迟改正模型综述

电离层延迟改正模型通常可以分为广播星历用的预报模型、广域差分用的实时模型、后处理模型3类,不同应用要求需要选择不同的模型。主要比较分析了几种常用的电离层延迟改正模型: 用于广域差分中生成格网模型的三角级数模型、多项式模型、低阶球谐函数模型等都可以获得很好的改正效果,且这3种模型基本上是等价的;电离层延迟谐函数展开模型可以用来分析电离层长时间系列的变化特征;国际电离层参考模型IRI的改正精度一般可以达到60％的效果;而GPS 星历采用的Klobuchar模型的参数设置存在一些不足,对此提出了一些改进措施。     

Ionospheric refraction effects on radio interferometer phase

The refraction of radio waves as they traverse through the terrestrial ionosphere and troposphere introduces a differential phase path which results for a radio interferometer in variations of the visibility phase. Though refraction due to troposphere is significant for synthesis radio telescopes operating at 1.0 GHz and above, ionospheric refraction is dominant at lower frequencies. This problem is important in the case of Ooty Synthesis Radio Telescope (OSRT) operating at 326.5 MHz, due to its proximity to the magnetic equator. This paper deals with the nature of phase variations suffered by OSRT due to refraction and explains the methodology evolved to alleviate them.     

TEC Compensated Inversion Method of Ionospheric Occultation

For the inversion of ionospheric occultation data, the Abel inversion method of calibrated TEC is usually adopted, but the spherical asymmetry of the real ionosphere will bring errors to the inversion result of electron densities. This paper studies a TEC compensated inversion method. By combining with a background field, this method may eliminate the effect of the horizontal variability of electron density on the TEC, and improve the applicability of the assumption of spherical symmetry as well as the inversion accuracy. Applying this method to the inversion of simulative occultation events, the result demonstrates that compared with the traditional Abel transform inversion, the TEC compensated inversion method can reduce the inversion error. Comparing the various background fields obtained in different ways, it is shown that the higher the coincidence level between the background field and the real field, the better the inversion result.     

Ionospheric measurements from the ESRO-4 satellite

Three ionospheric probes were carried on the ESRO-4 satellite, a spherical gridded probe with swept potential collecting positive ions, a Langmuir probe measuring electron temperature and vehicle potential, and a fixed potential gridded probe measuring fluctuations in total ion density. ESRO-4 was placed in a polar orbit of apogee 1177 km, perigee 245 km on 22 November 1972 and ionospheric data of excellent quality were obtained until the spacecraft's re-entry on 15 April 1974. The instrumentation is described and early results are presented.     

电离层掩星反演的正则最大熵法

电离层掩星数据现已成为电离层观测数据的重要来源,对掩星数据的反演研究一直是掩星研究的热点.传统采用的改正TEC(1btal Electron Content)的Abel变换反演法为线性反演法,它会把测量误差带入反演结果中.为改善反演效果受测量误差的影响,引入两种非线性的反演方法一正则化和正则最大熵反演法.随后设计模拟试验,对3种方法进行验证、比较,得到正则最大熵反演法可以很好地减小测量误差的影响.     

电离层的掩星分离假设反演法

该文首先简要介绍了无线电掩星探测技术及其发展现状和传统Abel变换方法面临的问题.为改进传统Abel变换反演方法,利用电子密度廓线的分离假设,引进了分离假设反演法.随后利用国际电离层参考模式IBI2007给出1000个掩星事件截面的模拟数据及COSMIC卫星星座的一天实测数据,进行比较计算,并对结果进行了分析,验证了分离假设反演法的有效性.文中还给出了垂直电子总量VTEC(Vertical Total Electron Content)先验场的获取途径.最后,对分离假设反演法的进一步研究的方向进行了探讨.     

Ionospheric effects induced by the Chelyabinsk meteor

The data, obtained for the first time, permit the conclusion to be drawn, with a high degree of probability, that large meteors similar to the Chelyabinsk meteor, while entering the Earth’s atmosphere, are able to cause perturbations within the whole ionospheric stratum, rather than only at the sporadic Es layer altitudes, as previously thought.     

Maximum Entropy Regularization Method of Ionospheric Occultation

With the increasing of applications of Global Positioning System (GPS), the research on the factors affecting the radio signals is becoming more and more important. One of the most significant effects on ionosphere monitoring is the ionospheric radio occultation (IRO), and the IRO data is now serving as one of the most important monitoring sources for the ionospheric measurements. Meanwhile the inversion of the occultation data is a popular topic. The traditional Abel inversion process through compensated total electron content (TEC) is a linear inversion method, thus it would transfer the measurement errors directly to the inversion results. In order to improve the occultation results, we introduce in this paper two nonlinear methods, namely the regularization method and the maximum entropy regularization method. Through designed simulative experiments, we verify and compare these three methods, and conclude that the maximum entropy regularization method can reduce significantly the influence of measurement errors.     

利用时间序列模型预报电离层TEC

以IGS(international GPS service)发布的电离层TEC(total electron content)资料为样本,用时间序列模型对全球的电离层总电子含量进行了预报.在时间序列预报模型中,不同的定阶方法导致不同的预报结果;实践证明本文使用的BIC定阶准则较好地实现了电离层总电子含量的预报.结果表明:对10 d左右的预报时间段,时间序列模型的TEC计算结果相对精度高,预报相对精度优于60%的网格点数在总网格点数中所占百分比可达90%以上.     

Ionospheric plasma flow past a semi-infinite cylinder

The ionospheric flow regime in which the flow velocity is well above the ambient ion thermal velocity, but far below the ambient electron thermal velocity, is considered. The flow is parallel to the axis of a conducting semi-infinite cylinder and is directed toward the end disk. Taylor's heuristic method is employed to obtain the approximate spatial dependence of the electric potential and the ion density and velocity. An expression is obtained from these parameters for the net current to the end disk.     

Ionospheric corrections via PIM and real-time data

We describe a method for removing ionospheric effects from single-frequency radio data a posteriori. This method is based on a theoretical climatological model developed by the USAF, which returns along the line of sight to the source. Together with a model of , ionospheric delay and Faraday rotation values ensue. If contemporaneous ionospheric data – GPS TEC observations or ionosonde profiles – exist, they can be incorporated to update the modeled n_e.     

通过卫星双向双频观测对电离层时延的测定

介绍了利用卫星双向双频(C波段)观测来测定电离层时延的方法,并对不同经纬度的观测结果进行了比较和分析。卫星双向双频(C波段)观测精度高,采样间隔短,能测定电离层总电子含量的细微变化。