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

四颗低地球轨道（LEO）卫星上的垂直指向GPS接收机用于确定全球范围内的高空（顶侧电离层）总电子含量（TEC）。 TEC测量值用于评估磁暴期间相对于静止时间基线发生的变化，并且TEC变化与风暴强度和风暴相关联。 TEC的数据时，有独立的测量垂直等离子体漂移在磁赤道是专门针对的，因此，在垂直漂移的变化和TEC的变化之间的相关性建立。 研究分三个阶段进行。 在第一阶段，星上电子含量（OSEC）编目为卫星位置和时间的函数。 在第二阶段，计算机电离层层析成像被用来反转OSEC数据，产生顶侧（包括F区峰值）等离子体分布的二维图像。 在第3阶段，OSEC图像被摄取到三维电离层数据同化算法中，沿着其他地基和天基等离子体数据，提供从F2电离层峰值到顶侧的等离子体分布的全球三维描述。

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.