First Results from a Comparison of Ground-Based Ionospheric Measurements in the Southern Hemisphere and the USU Global Ionospheric Model

The F-layer parameters N_mF_2 and h_mF_2 have been derived from measurements made at two Antarctic stations for quiet days during the austral summer and winter of 1982. Siple (76°S, 84°W) and Halley (76°S, 27°W) are both sited near L≈4.2 and use essentially identical digital HF sounding radars. Even...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Berkey, F. T., Sojka, Jan Josef, Jarvis, M. J.
Format: Text
Language:unknown
Published: Hosted by Utah State University Libraries 1987
Subjects:
USU
Online Access:https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/physics_facpub/121
Description
Summary:The F-layer parameters N_mF_2 and h_mF_2 have been derived from measurements made at two Antarctic stations for quiet days during the austral summer and winter of 1982. Siple (76°S, 84°W) and Halley (76°S, 27°W) are both sited near L≈4.2 and use essentially identical digital HF sounding radars. Even under quiet conditions, systematic differences in N_mF_2 and h_mF_2 can be observed at the two sites. Insight into the source of these differences can be obtained from a comparison of the ionospheric data with theoretical data derived from the USU global ionospheric model. Under austral winter conditions, a relatively good model-observational comparison is obtained. However, for austral summer conditions this agreement is poorer, apparently due to the simplicity of the neutral wind incorporated into the ionospheric model.