Abstract The electron density in the topside ionosphere strongly depends on the critical frequency of the F2 region, foF2. foF2 determines the peak density NmF2 and has considerable influence on the shape of the topside density profile. The most widely applied foF2 model is the well-known CCIR description. Recent improvements of this older model are discussed and compared with models deduced from ISS-b data. Furthermore, the topside profile is mainly dependent on geomagnetic latitude and solar activity. Several recent studies have shown that the widely used Bent and IRI models underestimate the measured topside densities close to the magnetic equator, even though simultaneous measured peak densities agree fairly well with the CCIR predictions. These discrepancies in shape were found in comparisons with Faraday electron content measurements, as well as AEROS satellite measurements and incoherent scatter measurements. The flexible IRI topside formula allows for an easy correction of this misinterpretation, resulting in a satisfactory description of the satellite data that represent low solar activity. The remaining underestimation of the high solar activity data indicates the need for further corrections of the IRI formula, when more data become available.
Progress in modeling the ionospheric peak and topside electron density
Advances in Space Research ; 7 , 6 ; 5-12
1987-01-01
8 pages
Article (Journal)
Electronic Resource
English
Linkage of the ionospheric peak electron density and height deduced from the topside sounding data
Online Contents | 2009
|Altitude variations of middle-latitude topside ionospheric electron-density profiles
British Library Conference Proceedings | 2006
|A global empirical model of the ionospheric topside electron density
Online Contents | 2004
|