HR: 0830h
AN: SM51B-0519    [PDF]
TI: Witnessing a Revolution in Ionospheric Remote Sensing
AU: * Wilson, B D
EM: Brian.D.Wilson@jpl.nasa.gov
AF: Jet Propulsion Laboratory, M/S 138-308 4800 Oak Grove Dr., Pasadena, CA 91109 United States
AU: Hajj, G A
EM: George.A.Hajj@jpl.nasa.gov
AF: Jet Propulsion Laboratory, M/S 138-308 4800 Oak Grove Dr., Pasadena, CA 91109 United States
AU: Hajj, G A
EM: George.A.Hajj@jpl.nasa.gov
AF: University of Southern California, 1042 West 36th Place, DRB 155, MC-1113, Los Angeles, CA 90089
AU: Mandrake, L
EM: Lukas.Mandrake@jpl.nasa.gov
AF: Jet Propulsion Laboratory, M/S 138-308 4800 Oak Grove Dr., Pasadena, CA 91109 United States
AU: Pi, X
EM: Xiaoqing.Pi@jpl.nasa.gov
AF: Jet Propulsion Laboratory, M/S 138-308 4800 Oak Grove Dr., Pasadena, CA 91109 United States
AU: Pi, X
EM: Xiaoqing.Pi@jpl.nasa.gov
AF: University of Southern California, 1042 West 36th Place, DRB 155, MC-1113, Los Angeles, CA 90089
AU: Wang, C
EM: cwang@math.usc.edu
AF: University of Southern California, 1042 West 36th Place, DRB 155, MC-1113, Los Angeles, CA 90089
AB: By the available evidence we are in the midst of a revolution in ionospheric remote sensing touched off by the illuminating powers of the Global Positioning System (GPS) and the advent of data assimilation techniques for space weather. Hundreds of globally distributed ground GPS stations provide over half a million total electron content (TEC-integrated electron density along the receiver-satellite line-of-sight) measurements daily. Furthermore, several existing low-Earth orbit satellites, such as CHAMP, SAC/C and IOX, are equipped with GPS receivers which collect hundreds of globally distributed GPS occultations daily, offering very high vertical resolution (1km) profiles of electron density from the D-region to the topside ionosphere. In about 3-4 years, as several missions featuring GPS occultations are launched, the number of daily GPS occultations will reach several thousands. This global and continuous coverage of the ionosphere is unprecedented and the optimal means of extracting its information content is through data assimilation techniques similar to those used in atmospheric numerical weather prediction. Our presentation will summarize the effort at the University of Southern California and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for the implementation and evaluation of a global assimilative ionospheric model (GAIM). GAIM is a physics-based 3D Kalman-filter approach capable of ingesting ground and flight GPS TEC, in addition to UV irradiance and in-situ electron density measurements. By incorporating such disparate datasets, GAIM produces a snapshot of the 3D ionosphere every 12 minutes for use in space weather monitoring, prediction and basic plasma physics research. Our presentation will show results of daily GAIM runs performed over the past 9 months and its validation against independent measurements from Topex altimetry, ionosondes, in-situ electron density, and incoherent scatter radars. Furthermore, our presentation will assess the crucial impact of space data for accurate electron density profiling.
DE: 2447 Modeling and forecasting
DE: 2494 Instruments and techniques
DE: 3260 Inverse theory
DE: 3337 Numerical modeling and data assimilation
DE: 4275 Remote sensing and electromagnetic processes (0689)
SC: SPA - Magnetospheric Physics [SM]
MN: 2003 Fall Meeting