Real time 3-D electron density reconstruction over Europe by using TaD profiler

Abstract

The TaD (Topside Sounder Model (TSM)-assisted Digisonde) profiler, developed on the basis of the Topside Sounder Model (TSM), provides vertical electron density profiles (EDP) over Digisondes from the bottomside ionosphere up to Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) orbit heights. TaD EDP uses the Digisonde bottomside profile and extends it above the F2 layer peak, representing O+ distribution by α-Chapman formula and H+ distribution by a single exponent. Topside scale height HT and transition height hT are taken from TSM, while the plasmasphere scale height Hp is defined as a function of HT. All profile parameters are adjusted to the current conditions comparing the profile integral with the GNSS vertical total electron content (TEC) retrieved from the European Reference Frame (EUREF) maps. To expand to three dimensions (3-D), European maps of foF2 and hmF2 are produced, based on Digisonde data, with spatial resolution 1°×1° in latitude and longitude, and TaD profiles are calculated at each grid node. Electron density (ED) at any point of the 3-D space is obtained by linear interpolation of TaD parameters between neighbor nodes. Samples of two dimensional (2-D) electron density distribution (EDD) at different cross sections of the 3-D space between 200 km and 1150 km over the mapping area are presented, along with distributions of the electron density along various raypaths of GNSS signals. The modeled 3-D EDD is compared with vertical (vTEC) and slant (sTEC) TEC parameters calculated from individual GNSS receivers. The model error (relative deviation of model from the data), based on 6780 data values, is 10% for sTEC and 6% for vTEC.