Abstract Global spectral models of electron temperature (Te) and density (Ne) were produced earlier using Dynamics Explorer-2 (DE-2) Langmuir probe measurements made between 1981 and 1983. The models were derived for the fixed altitudes of 300, 500, and 850 km. The variables in those models included spatial structure (geomagnetic latitude and longitude) and temporal variations (local time, season, UT, F10.7, and kp). Unfortunately, the DE-2 data base is not adequate to fully define all of these variables because of the eccentricity of the orbit, the slow evolution of the orbit, and the brevity of the mission (19 months). Legendre polynomials beyond order 5 could not be well enough defined to resolve small scale structures like the auroral oval, the midlatitude trough, and the equatorial anomaly, though these feature are clearly evident in the profiles from individual orbits. In the present work we take a different approach by modelling only the latitudinal variations observed in narrow altitude and local time bands and using measurements obtained during intervals short compared to a season. This approach allows the data to accurately define latitudinal terms up to 17 th order. To illustrate this improved latitudinal resolution, selected models of Te and Ne at 500 km are compared with latitude profiles from the earlier global models and with the DE-2 measurements for the same local times and altitudes.
Empirical models of the latitudinal variations of Te and Ne in the ionosphere at solar maximum
Advances in Space Research ; 11 , 10 ; 159-166
1991-01-01
8 pages
Aufsatz (Zeitschrift)
Elektronische Ressource
Englisch
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