Principles of Processing and Selection of Radio Occultation Observation Data for Investigating the Ionospheric F2-Layer

Abstract

Programs designed for automatic collection and processing of data on the ionospheric F2-layer parameters obtained by the radio occultation method are described. The programs developed make it possible to analyze the dependence of the parameters h m F2, foF2, and N m F2 on the level of solar activity with a given temporal and spatial resolution, which is important in solving scientific and applied problems. Global maps of the distribution of the maximum electron density of the F2-layer are presented for different seasons and times (UT and LT). The diurnal and seasonal variations of the normalized parameter N m F2 are compared with data calculated by empirical and numerical ionospheric models and with ionosonde data. The results calculated in this study reproduce all existing ionospheric anomalies and demonstrate a qualitative agreement with the data obtained by different methods. This indicates that radio occultation observation data can be efficiently used in theoretical research and empirical modeling of the ionosphere.