Ionospheric TEC observations from TOPEX satellite

Conference · Tue Dec 31 04:00:00 EST 1996

OSTI ID:433868

Vladimer, J A; Ewell, V R; Lee, M C ^[1]; Doherty, P H ^[2]; Decker, D T; Anderson, D N; Klobuchar, J A ^[3]

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1. Boston Univ., MA (United States). Electrical, Computer, and Systems Engineering Dept.
2. Boston Coll., Newton, MA (United States). Inst. for Science Research
3. Phillips Lab., Hanscom AFB, MA (United States). Ionospheric Effects Branch

Variability of Total Electron Content (TEC) in the equatorial anomaly region of the ionosphere can be studied extensively using the results of measurements taken by the NASA/CNES satellite, TOPEX/Poseidon. The NASA radar altimeter (NRA) is the first space-borne dual-frequency altimeter capable of accurately measuring vertical ionospheric TEC below 1,340 km. TOPEX TEC observations have already been used to support results from an ionospheric measurement campaign that was conducted in equatorial anomaly regions of South America by Phillips Laboratory in Spring, 1994. The best agreement in TEC values is seen during intervals of longitudinal proximity of the satellites` paths. The TOPEX over-ocean data can be used as a supplement to land based measurements in applications to ionospheric research at low and middle latitudes. This study focuses on comparisons between TOPEX vertical TEC data and GPS equivalent vertical TEC measurements taken near the East and West coastal regions of South America. Also the Phillips Laboratory Global Parameterized Ionospheric Model (PIM) is utilized in an effort to estimate slant to vertical conversion errors.

• OSTI ID: 433868
• Report Number(s): CONF-960634--
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

66 PHYSICS
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
DATA PROCESSING
ELECTRON DENSITY
EQUATOR
IONOSPHERE
LATITUDE EFFECT