An ionosphere-plasmasphere global electron density model

• Published in: Physics and chemistry of the earth. Part C, Solar-terrestrial and planetary science Vol. 25; no. 4; pp. 301 - 306
• Main Authors: Webb, P.A., Essex, E.A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 01.01.2000
• ISSN: 1464-1917
• DOI: 10.1016/S1464-1917(00)00021-0

Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites now provide a major source of data used in the study of the ionized regions that surround the Earth. With the greater use of GPS satellites in this role, understanding the effect the plasmasphere has on GPS radio signals has become increasingly important. The plasmasphere, with similar properties to the underlying ionosphere, can potentially contribute a significant fraction of the overall ionospheric error in radio signals transmitted from a GPS satellite to ground or space based receivers. A global plasmasphere-ionosphere electron density model has been developed to investigate this contribution. A variety of output examples that the model can produce are shown.