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Heise et al. 2002
Heise, S., Jakowski, N., Wehrenpfennig, A., Reigber, C. and Lühr, H. (2002). Sounding of the topside ionosphere/plasmasphere based on GPS measurements from CHAMP: Initial results. Geophysical Research Letters 29: doi: 10.1029/2002GL014738. issn: 0094-8276.

Beside the GPS radio occultation measurements of the troposphere and ionosphere, the CHAMP satellite tracks presently up to 8 GPS satellites simultaneously for navigation. The received dual frequency GPS signals provide valuable information on the ionization state of the topside ionosphere and plasmasphere. This paper briefly describes a new developed model assisted technique to improve the three dimensional electron density estimation above the CHAMP orbit from these GPS measurements. Application of this assimilation algorithm provides a 2-D electron density slice of the ionosphere/plasmasphere system within the CHAMP orbit plane from the CHAMP altitude up to GPS orbit heights. We estimate the accuracy of the GPS TEC calibration and perform a first validation by comparing the retrieved electron density of the ionosphere/plasmasphere slice at CHAMP altitude to simultaneous electron density measurements of the Langmuir Probe onboard CHAMP.

BACKGROUND DATA FILES

Abstract

Keywords
Ionosphere, Topside ionosphere, Ionosphere, Plasma temperature and density, Ionosphere, Ionospheric dynamics
Journal
Geophysical Research Letters
http://www.agu.org/journals/gl/
Publisher
American Geophysical Union
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