Plasmaspheric scale height modeling based on COSMIC radio occultation data

Abstract

The scale height in the plasmasphere (HP) is an important factor to present the dynamic nature and variations of the plasmasphere. It is challenging to build reliable plasmaspheric scale height model because of poor coverage and limited continuity of plasmaspheric sounder data. In this paper, an empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis method is applied to organize the HP obtained from total electron content (TEC) measurements of precise orbit determination (POD) antennas and electron density profiles of Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere, and Climate (COSMIC) mission, from the year 2007–2014, to reconstruct a global plasmaspheric scale height model. The model depends on parameters including the month of the year, the local time, the geographic latitude and the solar radio flux index F10.7. Comparison of this model and the scale height deduced from the International Satellites for Ionospheric Studies (ISIS) data shows remarkable consistency in HP values and variations.