A dynamic global model of the plasmasphere

• Published in: Journal of atmospheric and solar-terrestrial physics 2004-08, Vol.66 (12), p.1057-1073
• Main Authors: Webb, P.A., Essex, E.A.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: ATS-6; Earth, ocean, space; Electrondensity; Exact sciences and technology; External geophysics; GPS; Modelling; Physics of the high neutral atmosphere; Physics of the ionosphere; Physics of the magnetosphere; Plasmasphere; TEC
• ISSN: 1364-6826; 1879-1824
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jastp.2004.04.001

The three-dimensional Global Plasmasphere Ionosphere Density (GPID) model simulates the global-scale dynamics of the magnetic field-aligned ion and electron densities within the plasmasphere and plasmatrough ( L⩽9) by simultaneously modeling the field-aligned plasma density distributions of several thousand magnetic flux tubes distributed uniformly about the Earth. GPID uses a dynamical diffusive equilibrium approach within each magnetic flux tube that allows it to model the temporal variations in H + and O + densities, the dominant ions in the topside ionosphere and plasmasphere. Using the International Reference Ionosphere (IRI) to model the ionosphere and a simple electron density profile above the ionosphere in the polar regions ( L>9), GPID is able to simulate electron densities globally from ground level to an altitude of ∼50,000 km . Comparisons of GPID predictions with (1) direct plasmaspheric observations obtained from Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites equipped with Global Position System (GPS) receivers, (2) ground-based radio beacon measurements using the Applications Technology Satellite 6 (ATS-6) satellite and (3) several empirical plasmasphere models, show good agreement. This good agreement indicates the value of the GPID model as a tool for investigating the physics of the inner magnetopshere.