Combined Ionospheric Campaign 1: Ionospheric tomography and GPS total electron count (TEC) depletions

• Published in: Geophysical research letters 2000-09, Vol.27 (18), p.2849-2852
• Main Authors: Bust, Gary S., Coco, David, Makela, Jonathan J.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Algorithms; Density; Depletion; DMSP satellites; Earth, ocean, space; Exact sciences and technology; External geophysics; Geophysics; Ionization; Ionospheric structure (d, e, f and topside regions); Ionospherics; Physics of the ionosphere; Tomography
• ISSN: 0094-8276; 1944-8007
• DOI: 10.1029/2000GL000053

Results from the June 1998 combined ionospheric campaign (CIC) are presented. The CIC represents an attempt to focus a large number of different instruments on one interesting geophysical region. The Center for Ionospheric Research (CIR) at Applied Research Laboratories, the University of Texas at Austin (ARL:UT), has had several computerized ionospheric tomography (CIT) receivers deployed in the Caribbean region since July 1997. In this paper we compare CIT data, GPS TEC data and data from the incoherent scatter radar at Arecibo to try to obtain an understanding of the temporal and spatial distribution of ionospheric structure observed during the campaign. We use the three data sets as inputs to the 3DVAR tomography algorithm developed at CIR and present results of the 3DVAR “objectively analyzed” electron density field. An ionization wall was found near 40° latitude in agreement with previous Millstone Hill and DMSP observations in high Kp. Several elongated density depletions were also detected.