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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1976

A snapshot of the polar ionosphere

This paper presents a picture of the north polar F layer and topside ionosphere obtained primarily from three satellites (Alouette 2, ISIS 1, ISIS 2) that passed over the region within a time interval of about 50 min on a magnetically quiet day. The horizontal distribution of electron densities at the peak of the F layer is found to be similar to synoptic results from the IGY. Energetic-particle and ionospheric-plasma data are also presented, and the F-layer data are discussed in terms of these measurements as well as in terms of electric-field and neutral N2 density measurements made by other satellites on other occasions. The major feature observed is a tongue of F-region ionization extending from the dayside across the polar cap, which is accounted for by antisunward drift due to magnetospheric convection. In the F layer and topside ionosphere, the main effect of auroral precipitation appears to be heating and expansion of the topside. A region of low F-layer density appears on the morning side of the polar cap, which may be due to convection and possibly also to enhanced N2 densities.

Whitteker, J. H.↗
NASA NTRS1977

A model of F2 peak electron densities in the main trough region of the ionosphere

An empirical model of the peak electron densities in the region of the northerly main trough in the ionospheric F region is presented. The model was derived from measurements made by the satellites Alouette I and II and is in the form of a multiplicative modification factor to the CCIR peak electron density model. The model is a computer program which, when provided with the location, universal time, day number, sunspot number, and Kp index, provides the modification factor, the CCIR model prediction of Nm F2, and the new prediction including the effect of the trough. The model is expected to be of considerable use for propagation calculations in the affected region.

Halcrow, B. W.↗
NASA NTRS2001

New Data Source for Studying and Modelling the Topside Ionosphere

The existing uncertainties about density profiles in the topside ionosphere, i.e., in the height regime from hmF2 to approx. 2000 km, requires the search for new data sources. Millions of ionograms had been recorded by the ISIS and Alouette satellites in the sixties and seventies, that never were analyzed in terms of electron density profiles. In recent years an effort started to digitize the analog recordings to prepare the ionograms for computerized analysis. This paper shows how the digital ionograms are processed and the electron density profiles (from satellite orbit altitude, 1400 km for ISIS-2, down to the F peak) are calculated. The most difficult part of the task is the automatic scaling of the echo traces in the ISIS ionograms. Unlike the ionograms from modern ionosondes, the ISIS ionograms do not identify the wave polarization of the different echo traces, so physical logic must be applied to identify the ordinary ()) and extraordinary (X) traces, and this is not always successful. Characteristic resonance features seen in the topside ionograms occur at the gyro and plasma frequencies. An elaborate scheme was developed to identify these resonance frequencies in order to determine the local plasma and gyrofrequencies. This information helps in the identification of the O and X traces, and it provides the starting density of the electron density profile. The inversion of the echo traces into electron density profiles uses the same modified Chebyshev polynomial fitting technique that is successfully applied in the ground-based Digisonde network. The automatic topside ionogram scaler with true height algorithm TOPIST is successfully scaling approx. 70% of the ionograms. An 'editing process' is available to manually scale the more difficult ionograms. The home page for the ISIS project is at http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/space/isis/isis-status.html. It provides access to as of January 2001, 3000,000 digitized ISIS ionogram data and to related software. A search page lets users select data location, time, and a host of other search criteria. The automated processing of the ISIS ionograms will begin later this year and the electron density profiles will be made available from the project home page. The ISIS data restoration efforts are supported through NASA's Applied Systems and Information Research Program.

Huang, Xue-Qin↗