Wavelet-based analysis and power law classification of C/NOFS high-resolution electron density data

This paper applies new wavelet‐based analysis procedures to low Earth‐orbiting satellite measurements of equatorial ionospheric structure. The analysis was applied to high‐resolution data from 285 Communications/Navigation Outage Forecasting System (C/NOFS) satellite orbits sampling the postsunset p...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Radio science 2014-08, Vol.49 (8), p.680-688
Main Authors: Rino, C. L., Carrano, C. S., Roddy, Patrick
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Altitude
C/NOFS
Categories
Classification
Communication systems
ESF
Inverse
ionospheric structure classification
Power law
Scintillation
Spectra
wavelets
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Summary:This paper applies new wavelet‐based analysis procedures to low Earth‐orbiting satellite measurements of equatorial ionospheric structure. The analysis was applied to high‐resolution data from 285 Communications/Navigation Outage Forecasting System (C/NOFS) satellite orbits sampling the postsunset period at geomagnetic equatorial latitudes. The data were acquired during a period of progressively intensifying equatorial structure. The sampled altitude range varied from 400 to 800 km. The varying scan velocity remained within 20° of the cross‐field direction. Time‐to‐space interpolation generated uniform samples at approximately 8 m. A maximum segmentation length that supports stochastic structure characterization was identified. A two‐component inverse power law model was fit to scale spectra derived from each segment together with a goodness‐of‐fit measure. Inverse power law parameters derived from the scale spectra were used to classify the scale spectra by type. The largest category was characterized by a single inverse power law with a mean spectral index somewhat larger than 2. No systematic departure from the inverse power law was observed to scales greater than 100 km. A small subset of the most highly disturbed passes at the lowest sampled altitudes could be categorized by two‐component power law spectra with a range of break scales from less than 100 m to several kilometers. The results are discussed within the context of other analyses of in situ data and spectral characteristics used for scintillation analyses. Key Points Structure classification of high‐resolution ESF dataPower law characteristics varyTwo‐component power law confined to low‐altitude high‐density regions
ISSN:0048-6604
1944-799X
DOI:10.1002/2013RS005272