Pattern of the variation of the TEC extracted from the GPS, IRI 2016, IRI-Plas 2017 and NeQuick 2 over polar region, Antarctica

Publication date: Available online 21 February 2020Source: Life Sciences in Space ResearchAuthor(s): Yekoye Asmare TarikuAbstractAs a result of the complex and typical behavior of the earth's magnetic field, the high latitude ionospheric parameters (such as the Vertical Total Electron Content, VTEC) are very dynamic. Thus, this study mainly focuses on the pattern of variation of the VTEC inferred from the GPS, IRI 2016, IRI-Plas 2017 and NeQuick 2 with different height over Antarctica during 2011-2017. It has been shown that the GPS-derived (GPS VTEC) and modelled (IRI 2016, IRI-Plas 2017 and NeQuick 2) VTEC do not show significant variations in the hourly values. This shows that the solar irradiance mostly responsible for the ionization of neutral molecules in the earth's upper atmosphere does not show significant hourly variation in the region. Moreover, the GPS VTEC values are larger than the modelled values on most of the hours with the highest Root-Mean-Square Deviations, RMSD (close to 14 TECU) resulting from underestimation of the VTEC by the IRI 2016 model being observed in the March equinox in 2014. On the other hand, relatively small RMSDs (less than 1 TECU) are observed on most of the hours in using all models, demonstrating that the models’ performance is good with the NeQuick 2 model showing the best followed by the IRI-Plas 2017. Similar and smooth VTEC variation patterns are also observed in the bottom-side, topside and plasmaspheric layers during both the hi...

Source: Life Sciences in Space Research - February 21, 2020 Category: Biology Source Type: research