A New Mapping Function for Spaceborne TEC Conversion Based on the Plasmaspheric Scale Height
2021
Mengjie Wu | Peng Guo | Wei Zhou | Junchen Xue | Xingyuan Han | Yansong Meng | Xiaogong Hu
The mapping function is crucial for the conversion of slant total electron content (TEC) to vertical TEC for low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite-based observations. Instead of collapsing the ionosphere into one single shell in commonly used mapping models, we defined a new mapping function assuming the vertical ionospheric distribution as an exponential profiler with one simple parameter: the plasmaspheric scale height in the zenith direction of LEO satellites. The scale height obtained by an empirical model introduces spatial and temporal variances into the mapping function. The performance of the new method is compared with the mapping function F&:K by simulating experiments based on the global core plasma model (GCPM), and it is discussed along with the latitude, seasons, local time, as well as solar activity conditions and varying LEO orbit altitudes. The assessment indicates that the new mapping function has a comparable or better performance than the F&:K mapping model, especially on the TEC conversion of low elevation angles.
Show more [+] Less [-]Bibliographic information
This bibliographic record has been provided by Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute
