F2 Peak Research Articles

Topside ionospheric response to solar EUV variability

AbstractWe present an analysis of 23 years of thermal plasma measurements in the topside ionosphere from the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) spacecraft. The H+/O+ ratio and density vary dramatically with the solar cycle; cross‐correlation coefficients between E10.7 and the daily averaged densities are greater than 0.85. The ionospheric parameters also vary dramatically with season, particularly at latitudes away from the equator where the solar zenith angle varies greatly with season. There are also 27 day solar rotation periodicities in the density, associated with periodicities in the directly measured solar EUV flux. Empirical orthogonal function analysis captures over 95% of the variation in the density in the first two principal components. The first principal component (PC1) is clearly associated with the solar EUV while the second principal component (PC2) is clearly associated with the solar zenith angle variation. The magnitude of the variation of the response of the topside ionosphere to solar EUV variability is shown to be closely related to the ionospheric composition. This is interpreted as the result of the effect of composition on the scale height in the topside ionosphere and the “pivot effect” in which the variation in density near the F2 peak is amplified by a factor of e at an altitude a scale height above the F2 peak. When the topside ionosphere is H+ dominated during solar minimum, DMSP may be much less than a scale height above the F2 peak while during solar maximum, when it is O+ dominated, DMSP may be several scale heights above the F2 peak.

Ionospheric F2 layer responses to total solar eclipses at low and mid-latitude

In this article, we presented ionospheric F2 responses to total solar eclipses on the basis of the data obtained from five (5) equatorial/low-latitude and twenty-seven (27) mid-latitude ionosonde stations, which are within the obscuration percentage of 50–100% of the path of the total solar eclipses progression. Statistically, the diurnal changes in the F2 layer peak height hmF2 and electron density NmF2, as well as the latitudinal and hemispheric dependence and the contribution of both magnetic and solar activities during the eclipse window were investigated. The estimation of the solar ionizing radiation that remains unmasked during the eclipse window was as well carried out. Plasma diffusion processes dominate the F2 region plasma, and determine the height at which the F2 peak formed at mid-latitude. The electron density decreased during the eclipse window, closely following the variation in the local solar radiation at the mid-latitude. However, at equatorial/low-latitude, the plasma distribution during total solar eclipse depends on combine effect of solar radiation and the background nighttime ionospheric irregularities mechanism. The uncertainty level of the estimated solar ionizing radiation was <±0.3 at mid-latitude and greater±0.3 at equatorial/low-latitude. Their correlation ranges from (0.42–0.99). The ionospheric F2 layer eclipse effect is latitudinal and hemispheric dependent. The effect is largest at mid-latitude and relatively small at equatorial/low-latitudes. It is more pronounced at the equator, and decreases toward the equatorial ionospheric anomaly (EIA) region. The better correlation of 0.5840 and 0.6435 between geographic latitude and E(t) and electron density justifies the latitudinal relationship. The increase in percentage deviation of electron density increases with latitude and delay time (∆T) in the northern hemisphere of the mid-latitude. Conversely, in the southern hemisphere the percentage deviation decreases with an increase in ∆T and the latitude. The influence of the combined effect of solar activity and magnetic disturbances cannot the overlooked during total solar eclipse. At the eclipse shadow, the deviation increases with decreasing magnetic disturbances and solar activity. During magnetic quiet conditions the variation in maximum NmF2/hmF2 on the eclipse day are more decrease/increase than the control day and overturned during the magnetic disturbed condition.

Profiles of ionospheric storm‐enhanced density during the 17 March 2015 great storm

AbstractIonospheric F2 region peak densities (NmF2) are expected to have a positive correlation with total electron content (TEC), and electron densities usually show an anticorrelation with electron temperatures near the ionospheric F2 peak. However, during the 17 March 2015 great storm, the observed TEC, NmF2, and electron temperatures of the storm‐enhanced density (SED) over Millstone Hill (42.6°N, 71.5°W, 72° dip angle) show a quiet different picture. Compared with the quiet time ionosphere, TEC, the F2 region electron density peak height (hmF2), and electron temperatures above ~220 km increased, but NmF2 decreased significantly within the SED. This SED occurred where there was a negative ionospheric storm effect near the F2 peak and below it, but a positive storm effect in the topside ionosphere. Thus, this SED event was a SED in TEC but not in NmF2. The very low ionospheric densities below the F2 peak resulted in a much reduced downward heat conduction for the electrons, trapping the heat in the topside in the presence of heat source above. This, in turn, increased the topside scale height so that even though electron densities at the F2 peak were depleted, TEC increased in the SED. The depletion in NmF2 was probably caused by an increase in the density of the molecular neutrals, resulting in enhanced recombination. In addition, the storm time topside ionospheric electron density profiles were much closer to diffusive equilibrium than the nonstorm time profiles, indicating less daytime plasma flow between the ionosphere and the plasmasphere.

Vertical structure of medium‐scale traveling ionospheric disturbances

AbstractWe develop an algorithm of computerized ionospheric tomography (CIT) to infer information on the vertical and horizontal structuring of electron density during nighttime medium‐scale traveling ionospheric disturbances (MSTIDs). To facilitate digital CIT we have adopted total electron contents (TEC) from a dense Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver network, GEONET, which contains more than 1000 receivers. A multiplicative algebraic reconstruction technique was utilized with a calibrated IRI‐2012 model as an initial solution. The reconstructed F2 peak layer varied in altitude with average peak‐to‐peak amplitude of ~52 km. In addition, the F2 peak layer anticorrelated with TEC variations. This feature supports a theory in which nighttime MSTID is composed of oscillating electric fields due to conductivity variations. Moreover, reconstructed TEC variations over two stations were reasonably close to variations directly derived from the measured TEC data set. Our tomographic analysis may thus help understand three‐dimensional structure of MSTIDs in a quantitative way.

Diurnal variation of winter F region ionosphere for solar minimum at both Zhongshan Station, Antarctica, and Svalbard Station, Arctic

AbstractDiurnal variation features of wintertime F2 peak electron density (NmF2) representative for solar minimum at both Zhongshan station, Antarctica, and Svalbard station are compared and analyzed. Both stations are located around cusp latitude and are almost on the same geomagnetic meridian plane in both hemispheres. For quiet time period, typical NmF2 diurnal variation features at Svalbard station show double peaks with a decrease of NmF2 around magnetic local noon (~UT + 3 h); NmF2 diurnal variation at Zhongshan station shows one major peak around magnetic local noon (~UT + 1.75 h), followed by a sharp decrease of NmF2, and a subpeak around 1500 UT. Simulation results of the high‐latitude ionospheres in both hemispheres agree well with observations at both stations. It is found that the major difference of NmF2 variation between both stations can be explained by the unique location of each station relative to the sunlit demarcation line during the day. For quiet time period, photoionization from lower latitude contributes to the major peak of NmF2 in the diurnal variation at Zhongshan station, while the interaction between horizontal convection and auroral precipitation is the main cause for NmF2 variation at Svalbard station. For active time period, both stations show the increase of NmF2 due to transportation of higher plasma density from lower latitudes on the dayside with the expansion of the polar cap and the additional ionization from soft‐precipitating electrons.

Climatology of the ionospheric slab thickness along the longitude of 120° E in China and its adjacent region during the solar minimum years of 2007–2009

Abstract. The ionospheric slab thickness is defined as the ratio of the total electron content (TEC) to the ionospheric F2 layer peak electron density (NmF2). In this study, the slab thickness is determined by measuring the ionospheric TEC from dual-frequency Global Positioning System (GPS) data and the NmF2 from the Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere and Climate (COSMIC). A statistical analysis of the diurnal, seasonal and spatial variation in the ionospheric slab thickness is presented along the longitude of 120° E in China and its adjacent region during the recent solar minimum phase (2007–2009). The diurnal ratio, defined as the maximum slab thickness to the minimum slab thickness, and the night-to-day ratio, defined as the slab thickness during daytime to the slab thickness during night-time, are both analysed. The results show that the TEC of the northern crest is greater in winter than in summer, whereas NmF2 is greater in summer than in winter. A pronounced peak of slab thickness occurs during the post-midnight (00:00–04:00 LT) period, when the peak electron density is at the lowest level. A large diurnal ratio exists at the equatorial ionization anomaly, and a large night-to-day ratio occurs near the equatorial latitudes and mid- to high latitudes. It is found that the behaviours of the slab thickness and the F2 peak altitude are well correlated at the latitudes of 30–50° N and during the period of 10:00–16:00 LT. This current study is useful for improvement of the regional model and accurate calculation of the signal delay of radio waves propagating through the ionosphere.

A neural network based error correction method for radio occultation electron density retrieval

Abel inversion techniques have been widely employed to retrieve electron density profiles (EDPs) from radio occultation (RO) measurements, which are available by observing Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) satellites from low-earth-orbit (LEO) satellites. It is well known that the ordinary Abel inversion might introduce errors in the retrieval of EDPs when the spherical symmetry assumption is violated. The error, however, is case-dependent; therefore it is desirable to associate an error index or correction coefficient with respect to each retrieved EDP. Several error indices have been proposed but they only deal with electron density at the F2 peak and suffer from some drawbacks. In this paper we propose an artificial neural network (ANN) based error correction method for EDPs obtained by the ordinary Abel inversion. The ANN is first trained to learn the relationship between vertical total electron content (TEC) measurements and retrieval errors at the F2 peak, 220km and 110km altitudes; correction coefficients are then estimated to correct the retrieved EDPs at these three altitudes. Experiments using the NeQuick2 model and real FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC RO geometry show that the proposed method outperforms existing ones. Real incoherent scatter radar (ISR) measurements at the Jicamarca Radio Observatory and the global TEC map provided by the International GNSS Service (IGS) are also used to valid the proposed method.

Ionospheric vertical plasma drift and electron density response during total solar eclipses at equatorial/low latitude

AbstractThe response of the vertical plasma drift (Vz) and the electron density (NmF2) during different solar eclipses was investigated. The diurnal values of the direct scaled measurement of F2 peak height and the one derived from M(3000) F2 data, acquired over an equatorial/low‐latitude stations, have been used to determine the vertical plasma drift. The ionosphere during a solar eclipse is significantly affected by the E × B vertical drift; the large depletion of electron density at low altitudes can be transported to high altitudes through the plasma vertical drift. The loss in ionization density during the eclipse phase decreases the electron density, which was accompanied by rapid increase in hmF2. This deviation in the NmF2 during eclipse compared to control days can be related to the increase in the loss rate due to recombination, as a result of reduction in thermal energy. However, the maximum reduction in NmF2 is not synchronous with the time of maximum totality but some minutes later. The differences in the solar epochs may contribute to the observed relative changes in the ionospheric F2 region behavior during the eclipse window. Lastly, it is very difficult to separate the influence of magnetic disturbances from solar eclipse. The deviation in NmF2 is higher during magnetic disturbed days than the quiet day. The reverse is the case for hmF2 observation. However, the NmF2 variation increases with an increase in solar activity.

Ionospheric tomography over South Africa: Comparison of MIDAS and ionosondes measurements

This paper aims to show the results of an ionospheric tomography algorithm called Multi-Instrument Data Analysis System (MIDAS) over the South African region. Recorded data from a network of 49–53 Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers over the South African region was used as input for the inversion. The inversion was made for April, July, October and December representing the four distinct seasons (Autumn, Winter, Spring and Summer respectively) of the year 2012. MIDAS reconstructions were validated by comparing maximum electron density of the F2 layer (NmF2) and peak height (hmF2) values predicted by MIDAS to those derived from three South African ionosonde measurements. The diurnal and seasonal trends of the MIDAS NmF2 values were in good agreement with the respective NmF2 values derived from the ionosondes. In addition, good agreement was found between the two measurements with minimum and maximum coefficients of determination (r2) between 0.84 and 0.96 in all the stations and validation days. The seasonal trend of the NmF2 values over the South Africa region has been reproduced using this inversion which was in good agreement with the ionosonde measurements. Moreover, a comparison of the International Reference Ionosphere (IRI-2012) model NmF2 values with the respective ionosonde derived NmF2 values showed to have higher deviation than a similar comparison between the MIDAS reconstruction and the ionosonde measurements. However, the monthly averaged hmF2 values derived from IRI 2012 model showed better agreement than the respective MIDAS reconstructed hmF2 values compared with the ionosonde derived hmF2 values.The performance of the MIDAS reconstruction was observed to deteriorate with increased geomagnetic conditions. MIDAS reconstructed electron density were slightly elevated during three storm periods studied (24 April, 15 July and 8 October) which was in good agreement with the ionosonde measurements.

Electron density profiles probed by radio occultation of FORMOSAT-7/COSMIC-2 at 520 and 800 km altitude

Abstract. The FORMOSAT-7/COSMIC-2 (F7/C2) will ultimately place 12 satellites in orbit with two launches with 24–28.5° inclination and 520–550 km altitude in 2016 and with 72° inclination and 720–750 km altitude in 2018. It would be very useful for the community to construct the global three-dimensional electron density structure by simultaneously combining the two launch observations for studying ionospheric structure and dynamics. However, to properly construct the global electron density structure, it is essential to know and evaluate differences between the ionospheric electron densities probed by the two launches. To mimic the F7/C2 observations, we examine the electron density probed at the two satellite altitudes 500 and 800 km by means of FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC (F3/C) observations at the parking orbit 500 km altitude and mission orbit 800 km altitude, as well as a corresponding observing system simulation experiment (OSSE). Observation and OSSE results show that the sounding geometries by satellite orbiting at 500 and 800 km altitudes can cause the overall differences in the electron density, the F2 peak electron density, and the F2 peak height of about 18–24, 12–28 %, and 7–19 km, respectively. Results confirm that the discrepancies mainly result from the sounding geometry and the grid (contour) bias of the electron density.

Response of the topside and bottomside ionosphere at low and middle latitudes to the October 2003 superstorms

AbstractIonospheric observations from the ground‐based GPS receiver network, CHAMP and GRACE satellites and ionosondes were used to examine topside and bottomside ionospheric variations at low and middle latitudes over the Pacific and American sectors during the October 2003 superstorms. The latitudinal variation and the storm time response of the ground‐based GPS total electron content (TEC) were generally consistent with those of the CHAMP and GRACE up‐looking TEC. The TECs at heights below the satellite altitudes during the main phases were comparable to, or even less than, the quiet time values. However, the storm time CHAMP and GRACE up‐looking TECs showed profound increases at low and middle latitudes. The ground‐based TEC and ionosonde data were also combined to study the TEC variations below and above the F2 peak height (hmF2). The topside TECs above hmF2 at low and middle latitudes showed significant increases during storm time; however, the bottomside TEC below hmF2 did not show so obvious changes. Consequently, the bottomside ionosphere made only a minor contribution to the ionospheric positive phase seen in the total TEC at low and middle latitudes. Moreover, at middle latitudes F2 peak electron densities during storm time did not have the obvious enhancements that were seen in both the ground‐based and topside TECs, although they were accompanied by increases of hmF2. Therefore, storm time TEC changes are not necessarily related to changes in ionospheric peak densities. Our results suggest that TEC increases at low and middle latitudes are also associated with effective plasma scale height variations during storms.

Comparing different assimilation techniques for the ionospheric F2 layer reconstruction

AbstractFrom the applications perspective the electron density is the major determining parameter of the ionosphere due to its strong impact on the radio signal propagation. As the most ionized ionospheric region, the F2 layer has the most pronounced effect on transionospheric radio wave propagation. The maximum electron density of the F2 layer, NmF2, and its height, hmF2, are of particular interest for radio communication applications as well as for characterizing the ionosphere. Since these ionospheric key parameters decisively shape the vertical electron density profiles, the precise calculation of them is of crucial importance for an accurate 3‐D electron density reconstruction. The vertical sounding by ionosondes provides the most reliable source of F2 peak measurements. Within this paper, we compare the following data assimilation methods incorporating ionosonde measurements into a background model: Optimal Interpolation (OI), OI with time forecast (OI FC), the Successive Correction Method (SCM), and a modified SCM (MSCM) working with a daytime‐dependent measurement error variance. These approaches are validated with the measurements of nine ionosonde stations for two periods covering quiet and disturbed ionospheric conditions. In particular, for the quiet period, we show that MSCM outperforms the other assimilation methods and allows an accuracy gain up to 75% for NmF2 and 37% for hmF2 compared to the background model. For the disturbed period, OI FC reveals the most promising results with improvements up to 79% for NmF2 and 50% for hmF2 compared to the background and up to 42% for NmF2 and 16% for hmF2 compared to OI.

Comparison of peak height of the F2-layer (hmF2) measurements with IRI-2012, IRI-2007 and IRI-2001 models predictions above Roquetes station (Spain) during the ascending phase of the solar cycle 24

This research aims to validate IRI-2012 program and examine its accuracy in predicting peak height of the F2- layer (hmF2) above Roquetes. The seasonal hourly means of the ionosphere F2 peak height parameter (hmF2) above Roquetes station, Spain, (located at latitude close to the latitude of Iraq, 41°N) were analyzed and the results were compared with IRI-2012, IRI-2007 and IRI-2001, using CCIR (Comite´ Consultatif International des Radio Communications) option. The analysis covered quiet and disturbed days during various seasons of 2013 (the ascending phase of the solar cycle 24). In general, it is found that the predicted values of hmF2 overestimate the observed ones during all seasons, except Summer, whereas it underestimate at day hours. Also, it is found that the maximum percentage relative deviation of hmF2 occurred during Winter at 8 LT, while the minimum occurred during Autumnat 22 LT.

Studying atmospheric and ionospheric variabilities from long‐term spectrometric and radio sounding measurements

AbstractWe investigated the variability in the neutral upper atmosphere and ionosphere parameters over East Siberia. The analysis is based on 2008–2014 data set of mesopause temperature (Tm) obtained from spectrometric measurements of the OH emission (834.0 nm, band (6–2)) at the Institute of Solar‐Terrestrial Physics Geophysical Observatory (51.8°N, 103.1°E), and the data of F2 peak electron density (NmF2) from Irkutsk DPS‐4 Digisonde (52.3°N, 104.3°E). The seasonal patterns of the NmF2 and Tm variability in different period ranges were analyzed and compared. The period range included day‐to‐day (periods T &gt; 24 h) and tidal (8 h ≤ T ≤ 24 h) variations as well as variations in the internal gravity wave period range (T &lt; 8 h). The comparison revealed both common features and distinctions in the seasonal patterns of the ionospheric and atmospheric variabilities. The main common feature is that the winter variability exceeds the summer one. In both atmospheric and ionospheric day‐to‐day variability seasonal variations, there are maxima in winter months and an additional maximum around the autumn equinox. The main distinction is that the equinox peaks observed in the seasonal variations of the diurnal atmospheric variability are not seen in the ionospheric seasonal pattern. The physical reasons of the obtained features are discussed. The revealed similarities in the seasonal behaviors may indicate that planetary waves propagating from the lower atmosphere layers have a significant impact on the mesopause temperature regime and ionospheric day‐to‐day variations.

An empirical model of the topside plasma density around 600 km based on ROCSAT‐1 and Hinotori observations

AbstractIt is an urgent task to improve the ability of ionospheric empirical models to more precisely reproduce the plasma density variations in the topside ionosphere. Based on the Republic of China Satellite 1 (ROCSAT‐1) observations, we developed a new empirical model of topside plasma density around 600 km under relatively quiet geomagnetic conditions. The model reproduces the ROCSAT‐1 plasma density observations with a root‐mean‐square‐error of 0.125 in units of lg(Ni(cm−3)) and reasonably describes the temporal and spatial variations of plasma density at altitudes in the range from 550 to 660 km. The model results are also in good agreement with observations from Hinotori, Coupled Ion‐Neutral Dynamics Investigations/Communications/Navigation Outage Forecasting System satellites and the incoherent scatter radar at Arecibo. Further, we combined ROCSAT‐1 and Hinotori data to improve the ROCSAT‐1 model and built a new model (R&amp;H model) after the consistency between the two data sets had been confirmed with the original ROCSAT‐1 model. In particular, we studied the solar activity dependence of topside plasma density at a fixed altitude by R&amp;H model and find that its feature slightly differs from the case when the orbit altitude evolution is ignored. In addition, the R&amp;H model shows the merging of the two crests of equatorial ionization anomaly above the F2 peak, while the IRI_Nq topside option always produces two separate crests in this range of altitudes.

Ionospheric total electron content disturbance associated with May 12, 2008, Wenchuan earthquake

Possible ionospheric disturbances relating to the May 12, 2008, Ms8.0 Wenchuan earthquake were identified by Global Positioning System (GPS)-derived total electron content (TEC), ionosonde observations, the global ionospheric map (GIM), and electron density profiles detected by the Constellation Observation System for Meteorology Ionosphere and Climate (COSMIC). We applied a statistical test to detect anomalous TEC signals and found that a unique enhancement in TEC, recorded at 16 GPS stations, appeared on May 9, 2008. The critical frequency at F2 peak (f0F2), observed by the Chinese ionosondes, and maximal plasma frequency, derived from COSMIC data, revealed a characteristic similar to GPS TEC variations. The GIM showed that the anomalous variations of May 9 were located southeast of the epicenter. Using GPS data from 13 stations near the epicenter, we analyzed the TEC variations of satellite orbit traces during 04:00–11:00 UT. We found that TEC decreased to the east and increased to the southeast of the epicenter during this period. Results showed that the abnormal disturbance on May 9 was probably an ionospheric precursor of the Wenchuan earthquake of May 12, 2008.

Correlation studies for B-spline modeled F2 Chapman parameters obtained from FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC data

Abstract. The determination of ionospheric key quantities such as the maximum electron density of the F2 layer NmF2, the corresponding F2 peak height hmF2 and the F2 scale height HF2 are of high relevance in 4-D ionosphere modeling to provide information on the vertical structure of the electron density (Ne). The Ne distribution with respect to height can, for instance, be modeled by the commonly accepted F2 Chapman layer. An adequate and observation driven description of the vertical Ne variation can be obtained from electron density profiles (EDPs) derived by ionospheric radio occultation measurements between GPS and low Earth orbiter (LEO) satellites. For these purposes, the six FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC (F3/C) satellites provide an excellent opportunity to collect EDPs that cover most of the ionospheric region, in particular the F2 layer. For the contents of this paper, F3/C EDPs have been exploited to determine NmF2, hmF2 and HF2 within a regional modeling approach. As mathematical base functions, endpoint-interpolating polynomial B-splines are considered to model the key parameters with respect to longitude, latitude and time. The description of deterministic processes and the verification of this modeling approach have been published previously in Limberger et al. (2013), whereas this paper should be considered as an extension dealing with related correlation studies, a topic to which less attention has been paid in the literature. Relations between the B-spline series coefficients regarding specific key parameters as well as dependencies between the three F2 Chapman key parameters are in the main focus. Dependencies are interpreted from the post-derived correlation matrices as a result of (1) a simulated scenario without data gaps by taking dense, homogenously distributed profiles into account and (2) two real data scenarios on 1 July 2008 and 1 July 2012 including sparsely, inhomogeneously distributed F3/C EDPs. Moderate correlations between hmF2 and HF2 as well as inverse correlations between NmF2 and HF2 are reflected from the simulation. By means of the real data studies, it becomes obvious that the sparse measurement distribution leads to an increased weighting of the prior information and suppresses the parameter correlations which play an important role regarding the parameter estimability. The currently implemented stochastic model is in need of improvement and does not consider stochastic correlations which consequently cannot occur.

Regional modeling of ionospheric peak parameters using GNSS data—An update for IRI

The F2 layer of the ionosphere plays an essential role in radio communication and positioning applications as well as in space weather research. In particular, the characteristics of the F2 layer are defined by the F2 peak density NmF2, the F2 peak height hmF2 as well as the scale height HF2. The International Reference Ionosphere (IRI) is the internationally recognized and recommended standard for predicting these critical parameters. However, IRI provides median monthly values of these parameters based on the International Radio Consultative Committee (CCIR) or the International Union of Radio Science (URSI) models, which were developed from data of the worldwide network of ionosondes during the years 1954 to 1958. These models provide monthly averages, and therefore, they are required to be updated with up-to-date measurements to get more accurate predictions. In this contribution, we provide a procedure to improve the parameters NmF2,hmF2 and HF2 from modern space geodetic measurements, which can serve to update IRI. Specifically, we model these key parameters spatio-temporally by tensor product of B-spline expansions, and estimate the model coefficients using two types of GNSS data, namely, ground-based two-frequency GPS observations of total electron content and electron density profiles retrieved from ionospheric GPS radio occultation measurements acquired by the FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC mission. In this manner, the solution of the model parameters benefits from different sensitivities as well as from different spatio-temporal resolutions of the two observation techniques. The model is applied exemplarily over a South American region on three selected days under high solar activity (1 July 2012), moderate solar activity (16 July 2011) and low solar activity (16 July 2008), respectively. A comparison of our results with ionosonde data, a comparison of vertical total electron content (VTEC) values and a cross validation show the strengths of our approach and the potential to update the IRI model.

Vowel formant discrimination: Effects of listeners’ hearing status and language background

The goal of this study was to examine effects of listeners’ hearing status (e.g., normal and impaired hearing) and language background (e.g., native and non-native) on vowel formant discrimination. Thresholds of formant discrimination were measured for F1 and F2 of English vowels at 70 dB SPL for normal- (NH) and impaired-hearing (HI) listeners using a three-interval, two-alternative forced-choice procedure with a two-down, one-up tracking algorithm. Formant thresholds of HI listeners were comparable to those of NH listeners for F1, but significantly higher than NH listeners for F2. Results of a further experiment indicated that an amplification of the F2 peak could markedly improve formant discrimination for HI listeners, but a simple amplification of the sound level did not provide any benefit to them. On the other hand, another experiment showed that vowel density of listeners’ native language appeared to affect vowel formant discrimination, i.e., more crowded vowel space of listeners’ native language, better their vowel formant discrimination. For example, English-native listeners showed significantly lower thresholds of formant discrimination for both English and Chinese vowels than Chinese-native listeners. However, the two groups of listeners had similar psychophysical capacity to discriminate formant frequency changes in non-speech sounds.

The role of the Sun in long‐term change in the F2 peak ionosphere: New insights from EEMD and numerical modeling

AbstractWe applied Ensemble Empirical Mode Decomposition (EEMD) for the first time to ionosonde data to study trends in the critical frequency of the F2 peak, foF2, and its height, hmF2, from 1959 to 2005. EEMD decomposes a time series into several quasi‐cyclical components, called Intrinsic Mode Functions, and a residual, which can be interpreted as a long‐term trend. In contrast to the more commonly used linear regression‐based trend analysis, EEMD makes no assumptions on the functional form of the trend and no separate correction for the influence of solar activity variations is needed. We also adopted a more rigorous significance testing procedure with less restrictive underlying assumptions than the F test, which is normally used as part of a linear regression‐based trend analysis. EEMD analysis shows that trends in hmF2 and foF2 between 1959 and 2005 are mostly highly linear, but the F test tends to overestimate the significance of trends in hmF2 and foF2 in 30% and 25% of cases, respectively. EEMD‐based trends are consistently more negative than linear regression‐based trends, by 30–35% for hmF2 and about 50% for foF2. This may be due to the different treatment of the influence of a long‐term decrease in solar activity from 1959 to 2005. We estimate the effect of this decrease in solar activity with two different data‐based methods as well as using numerical model simulations. While these estimates vary, all three methods demonstrate a larger relative influence of the Sun on trends in foF2 than on trends in hmF2.