A comparison of Jason-2 plasmasphere electron content measurements with ground-based measurements
<p>Previous studies utilizing the Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers aboard Jason satellites have performed measurements of plasmasphere electron content (PEC) by determining the total electron content (TEC) above these satellites, which are at altitudes of about 1340 km. This study use...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Copernicus Publications
2023-06-01
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| Series: | Annales Geophysicae |
| Online Access: | https://angeo.copernicus.org/articles/41/269/2023/angeo-41-269-2023.pdf |
| _version_ | 1827921047206232064 |
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| author | A. J. Mazzella Jr. E. Yizengaw |
| author_facet | A. J. Mazzella Jr. E. Yizengaw |
| author_sort | A. J. Mazzella Jr. |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | <p>Previous studies utilizing the Global Positioning System
(GPS) receivers aboard Jason satellites have performed measurements of
plasmasphere electron content (PEC) by determining the total electron
content (TEC) above these satellites, which are at altitudes of about 1340 km. This study uses similar methods to determine PEC for the Jason-2
receiver for 24 July 2011. These PEC values are compared to previous
determinations of PEC from a chain of ground-based GPS receivers in Africa
using the SCORPION method, with a nominal ionosphere–plasmasphere boundary
at 1000 km. The Jason-2 PECs with elevations greater than 60<span class="inline-formula"><sup>∘</sup></span>
were converted to equivalent vertical PEC and compared to SCORPION vertical
PEC determinations. In addition, slant (off-vertical) PECs from Jason-2
were compared to a small set of nearly co-aligned ground-based slant PECs.
The latter comparison avoids any conversion of Jason-2 slant PEC to
equivalent vertical PEC, and it can be considered a more representative
comparison. The mean difference between the vertical PEC (ground-based
minus Jason-2 measurements) values is 0.82 <span class="inline-formula">±</span> 0.28 <span class="inline-formula">TEC units</span> (<span class="inline-formula">1 TEC unit=10<sup>16</sup></span> <span class="inline-formula">electrons m<sup>−2</sup></span>). Similarly, the mean difference
between slant PEC values is 0.168 <span class="inline-formula">±</span> 0.924 <span class="inline-formula">TEC units</span>. The Jason-2 slant
PEC comparison method may provide a reliable determination for the
plasmasphere baseline value for the ground-based receivers, especially if
the ground stations are confined to only midlatitude or low-latitude
regions, which can be affected by a non-negligible PEC baseline.</p> |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-13T04:21:24Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-0f2a548ea2694137ab13157b5dcdcbc2 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0992-7689 1432-0576 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-13T04:21:24Z |
| publishDate | 2023-06-01 |
| publisher | Copernicus Publications |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Annales Geophysicae |
| spelling | doaj.art-0f2a548ea2694137ab13157b5dcdcbc22023-06-20T09:17:19ZengCopernicus PublicationsAnnales Geophysicae0992-76891432-05762023-06-014126928010.5194/angeo-41-269-2023A comparison of Jason-2 plasmasphere electron content measurements with ground-based measurementsA. J. Mazzella Jr.0E. Yizengaw1Watertown, Massachusetts 02472–1049, USASpace Science Application Laboratory, The Aerospace Corporation, El Segundo, California 90245, USA<p>Previous studies utilizing the Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers aboard Jason satellites have performed measurements of plasmasphere electron content (PEC) by determining the total electron content (TEC) above these satellites, which are at altitudes of about 1340 km. This study uses similar methods to determine PEC for the Jason-2 receiver for 24 July 2011. These PEC values are compared to previous determinations of PEC from a chain of ground-based GPS receivers in Africa using the SCORPION method, with a nominal ionosphere–plasmasphere boundary at 1000 km. The Jason-2 PECs with elevations greater than 60<span class="inline-formula"><sup>∘</sup></span> were converted to equivalent vertical PEC and compared to SCORPION vertical PEC determinations. In addition, slant (off-vertical) PECs from Jason-2 were compared to a small set of nearly co-aligned ground-based slant PECs. The latter comparison avoids any conversion of Jason-2 slant PEC to equivalent vertical PEC, and it can be considered a more representative comparison. The mean difference between the vertical PEC (ground-based minus Jason-2 measurements) values is 0.82 <span class="inline-formula">±</span> 0.28 <span class="inline-formula">TEC units</span> (<span class="inline-formula">1 TEC unit=10<sup>16</sup></span> <span class="inline-formula">electrons m<sup>−2</sup></span>). Similarly, the mean difference between slant PEC values is 0.168 <span class="inline-formula">±</span> 0.924 <span class="inline-formula">TEC units</span>. The Jason-2 slant PEC comparison method may provide a reliable determination for the plasmasphere baseline value for the ground-based receivers, especially if the ground stations are confined to only midlatitude or low-latitude regions, which can be affected by a non-negligible PEC baseline.</p>https://angeo.copernicus.org/articles/41/269/2023/angeo-41-269-2023.pdf |
| spellingShingle | A. J. Mazzella Jr. E. Yizengaw A comparison of Jason-2 plasmasphere electron content measurements with ground-based measurements Annales Geophysicae |
| title | A comparison of Jason-2 plasmasphere electron content measurements with ground-based measurements |
| title_full | A comparison of Jason-2 plasmasphere electron content measurements with ground-based measurements |
| title_fullStr | A comparison of Jason-2 plasmasphere electron content measurements with ground-based measurements |
| title_full_unstemmed | A comparison of Jason-2 plasmasphere electron content measurements with ground-based measurements |
| title_short | A comparison of Jason-2 plasmasphere electron content measurements with ground-based measurements |
| title_sort | comparison of jason 2 plasmasphere electron content measurements with ground based measurements |
| url | https://angeo.copernicus.org/articles/41/269/2023/angeo-41-269-2023.pdf |
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