How Does the High-Altitude Plasma Distribution Change During Magnetic Storms

利用四颗低地球轨道卫星上的垂直指向GPS接收机，在全球范围内确定高空（上层电离层）总电子含量（TEC）。TEC测量值用于评估相对于相当时间基线的磁暴期间发生的变化，TEC变化与风暴强度和风暴阶段都相关。在磁赤道处有独立的等离子体垂直漂移测量时得到的TEC数据是专门针对的，以便建立垂直漂移变化与TEC变化之间的相关性。本研究分三个阶段进行。在第一阶段，星上电子含量（OSEC）作为卫星位置和时间的函数进行编目。在第二阶段，计算机电离层层析成像用于反演OSEC数据，生成上层（包括f区峰）等离子体分布的二维图像。在第三阶段，OSEC图像与其他地基和天基等离子体数据一起被吸收到三维电离层数据同化算法中，提供从F2电离层峰到顶部的等离子体分布的全局三维描述。

Vertical pointing GPS receivers on four Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites are used to determine high altitude (topside ionosphere) total electron content (TEC) on a global scale. The TEC measurements are used to evaluate changes that occur during magnetic storms relative to a quite-time baseline, and TEC variations are correlated with both storm strength and storm phase. TEC data derived when there are independent measurements of vertical plasma drift at the magnetic equator are specifically targeted, so that correlations between changes in the vertical drift and changes in TEC are established. The research is carried out in three phases. In Phase 1 the oversatellite electron content (OSEC) is cataloged as function of satellite position and time. In Phase 2, computerized ionospheric tomography is used to invert the OSEC data, producing 2-dimensional images of the topside (including the F-region peak) plasma distribution. In Phase 3 the OSEC images are ingested into a three-dimensional ionospheric data assimilation algorithm, along with other ground-based and space-based plasma data, providing a global, three-dimensional description of the plasma distribution from the F2 ionospheric peak through the topside.