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Long-lived metallic ions in the Earth's atmosphere (ionosphere) have been investigated for many decades. Although the seasonal variation in ionospheric “sporadic E” layers was first observed in the 1960s, the mechanism driving the variation remains a long-standing mystery. Here, we report a study of ionospheric irregularities using scintillation data from COSMIC satellites and identify a large-scale horizontal transport of long-lived metallic ions, combining the simulations of the Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model with the chemistry of metals and ground-based observations from two meridional chains of stations from 1975–2016. We find that the lower thermospheric meridional circulation influences the meridional transport and seasonal variations of metallic ions within sporadic E layers. The winter-to-summer meridional velocity of ions is estimated to vary between −1.08 and 7.45 m/s at altitudes of 107–118 km between 10–60∘ N. Our results not only provide strong support for the lower thermospheric meridional circulation predicted by a whole atmosphere chemistry–climate model, but also emphasize the influences of this winter-to-summer circulation on the large-scale interhemispheric transport of composition in the thermosphere–ionosphere.

Launched in 2006, the Formosa Satellite Mission 3–Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere and Climate (FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC) was the first constellation of microsatellites carrying global positioning system (GPS) radio occultation (RO) receivers. Radio occultation is an active remote sensing technique that provides valuable information on the vertical variations of electron density in the ionosphere, and temperature, pressure, and water vapor in the stratosphere and troposphere. COSMIC has demonstrated the great value of RO data in ionosphere, climate, and meteorological research and operational weather forecasting. However, there are still challenges using RO data, particularly in the moist lower troposphere and upper stratosphere. A COSMIC follow-on constellation, COSMIC-2, was launched into equatorial orbit in 2019. With increased signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) from improved receivers and digital beam steering antennas, COSMIC-2 will produce at least 5,000 high-quality RO profiles daily in the tropics and subtropics. In this paper, we summarize 1) recent (since 2011 when the last review was published) contributions of COSMIC and other RO observations to weather, climate, and space weather science; 2) the remaining challenges in RO applications; and 3) potential contributions to research and operations of COSMIC-2.

On the basis of S4max data retrieved from COSMIC GPS radio occultation measurements, the long-term climatology of the intensity of Es layers is investigated for the period from December 2006 to January 2014. Global maps of Es intensity show the high-spatial-resolution geographical distribution and strong seasonal dependence of Es layers. The maximum intensity of Es occurs over the mid-latitudes, and its value in summer is 2–3 times larger than that in winter. A relatively strong Es layer is observed at the North Pole and South Pole, with a distinct boundary dividing the mid-latitudes and high latitudes along the 60–80∘ geomagnetic latitude band. The simulation results show that the convergence of vertical ion velocity could partially explain the seasonal dependence of Es intensity. Furthermore, some disagreements between the distributions of the calculated divergence of vertical ion velocity and the observed Es intensity indicate that other processes, such as the vertical motions of gravity waves, magnetic-field effects, meteoric mass influx into Earth's atmosphere, and the chemical processes of metallic ions, should also be considered as they may also play an important role in the spatial and seasonal variations in Es layers.

The Global Ultraviolet Imager (GUVI) aboard the Thermosphere-Ionosphere-Mesosphere Energetics and Dynamics (TIMED) satellite senses far ultraviolet airglow emissions in the thermosphere. The retrieved altitude profiles of thermospheric neutral density from GUVI daytime limb scans are significant for ionosphere-thermosphere study. Here, we use the profiles of the main neutral density to derive the total mass density during the period 2002-2007 under geomagnetic quiet conditions (ap < =12). We attempt to compare the obtained total mass density with the Challenging Minisatellite Payload (CHAMP) observations, making use of an empirical model (GUVI model hereafter). This GUVI model is aimed to solve the difficulty of the direct comparison of GUVI and CHAMP observations due to their different local times at a given location in a given day. The GUVI model is in good agreement with CHAMP observations with the small standard deviations of their ratios (less than 10%) except at low solar flux levels. The correlation coefficients are greater than 0.9, and the relative standard errors are less than 20%. Comparison between the GUVI model and CHAMP observations during solar minimum shows a large bias (similar to 30%). The large bias at low solar flux levels might be due to the limitation of F-10.7 as an extreme ultraviolet radiation flux proxy and the fitting method. Our results demonstrate the validity and accuracy of our model based on GUVI data against the density data from the CHAMP satellite.

The small-scale electron density irregularities in the ionosphere have a significant impact on the interruptions of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) navigation and the accuracy of GNSS positioning techniques. The sporadic ionospheric E (Es) layer significantly contributes to the transient interruptions of signals (loss of lock) for GNSS tracking loops. These effects on the GNSS radio occultation (RO) signals can be used to derive the global location and intensity of Es layers as a complement to ground-based observations. Here we conduct statistical analyses of the intensity of Es layers, based on the scintillation index S4max from the FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC during the period 2006–2014. In comparison with simultaneous observations from an ionosonde network of five low-to-middle latitude ionosondes, the S4max indices from COSMIC, especially the small values, are linearly related to the critical frequency of Es layers (foEs). An accumulated period of less than 1 h is required to derive the short-term variations in real-time ionospheric Es layers. A total of 30.22%, 69.57% and 98.13% coincident hourly foEs values have a relative difference less than 10%, 30% and 100%. Overall, the GNSS RO measurements have the potential to provide accurate hourly observations of Es layers. Observations with S4max oEs

This study investigates a mechanism to generate the wavenumber-3 longitude variation in the ionosphere, using the simulations with the Global Coupled Ionosphere Thermosphere Electrodynamics Model, developed by the Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (GCITEM-IGGCAS). Due to the asymmetry of geomagnetic field, the asymmetric Hough mode of diurnal eastward wavenumber-3 (DE3) also produces the WN3 structure in the ionosphere by coupling with the magnetic line. The densities of the neutral mass and the plasmas in the ionosphere are studied in detail. The results show a clear WN3 pattern driven by tide's electro-dynamical coupling. We then conclude that the asymmetric component of the DE3 can also cause the WN3 structure in the ionosphere, which confirms the assumption that more than one source could generate WN3 structure in previous studies.

The Formosa Satellite‐7/Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere, and Climate‐2 (FORMOSAT‐7/COSMIC‐2) Global Navigation Satellite System radio occultation (RO) payload can provide global observations of slant total electron content (sTEC) with an unprecedentedly high spatial temporal resolution. Recently, a new ionospheric data assimilation system, the Community Gridpoint Statistical Interpolation (GSI) Ionosphere, is constructed with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration GSI Ensemble Square Root Filter and the Global Ionosphere Plasmasphere and the Thermosphere Ionosphere Electrodynamic General Circulation Model. The paper demonstrates the capability of the GSI Ionosphere to improve the ionospheric specification and make a quantitative assessment of the impact of FORMOSAT‐7/COSMIC‐2 RO data on the ionospheric observing system simulation experiments conducted to calibrate key Ensemble Square Root Filter parameters that control detrimental effects of the sampling errors, particularly on the ensemble‐based estimation of the correlation between observations and model states, in order to yield high‐quality assimilation analysis. Results from the observing system simulation experiments show that (1) an ensemble size larger than 70 is recommended for assimilation of RO sTEC data with the GSI Ionosphere and (2) localizing the impact of observations around the tangent points in the horizontal direction with a length scale of 5,000 km is effective in improving assimilation analysis quality. Assimilation of sTEC data from FORMOSAT‐7/COSMIC‐2 can considerably improve the global ionospheric specification through the application of the GSI Ionosphere. The GSI Ionosphere can provide instantaneous global pictures of the ionosphere variability and help characterize day‐to‐day variability of the ionosphere and deepen our understanding of the observed day‐to‐day variability. Published version

In this study we propose the combination of topside in-situ ion density data from the Communication/Navigation Outage Forecast System (C/NOFS) along with the electron density profile measurement from Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere & Climate (COSMIC) satellites Radio Occultation (RO) for studying the spatial and temporal variations of the ionospheric upper transition height ( h T ) and the oxygen ion (O + ) density scale height. The latitudinal, local time and seasonal distributions of upper transition height show more consistency between h T re-calculated by the profile of the O + using an α-Chapman function with linearly variable scale height and that determined from direct in-situ ion composition measurements, than with constant scale height and only the COSMIC data. The discrepancy in the values of h T between the C/NOFS measurement and that derived by the combination of COSMIC and C/NOFS satellites observations with variable scale height turns larger as the solar activity decreases, which suggests that the photochemistry and the electrodynamics of the equatorial ionosphere during the extreme solar minimum period produce abnormal structures in the vertical plasma distribution. The diurnal variation of scale heights ( H m ) exhibits a minimum after sunrise and a maximum around noon near the geomagnetic equator. Further, the values of H m exhibit a maximum in the summer hemisphere during daytime, whereas in the winter hemisphere the maximum is during night. Those features of H m consistently indicate the prominent role of the vertical electromagnetic (E × B) drift in the equatorial ionosphere.

We report an overturning-like structure of the thermospheric sodium layer (TSL) in the altitude region of ∼100–120 km observed by a sodium lidar at Haikou (20.0°N), China, on July 29, 2012. The overturning-like sodium layer was first seen as upwelling from the top of the sodium layer (∼102 km) to an altitude of ∼118 km from 14:55 to 15:50 UT and then descending gradually from its apex with a speed of 3.5 km/h. The ionospheric observations from the COSMIC radio occultation and three ionosondes exhibited abrupt perturbations in the radio occultation (RO) SNR profiles and spread Es in the ionograms, respectively, indicating the existence of complex Es around Haikou. On the other hand, VHF radars located at Sanya (18.4°N, 220 km away from Haikou) and Fuke (19.5°N, 130 km away from Haikou) both recorded strong E region field-aligned irregularity (FAI) echoes altitude-extended structure covering altitudes of 100–140 km, which are well correlated with the overturning-like structure of the thermospheric sodium layer. The good agreement between occurrence time of sodium layer (and FAI) structure and of complex Es could indicate a close correlation between them. One possibility is that the chemical reaction in the course of the complex Es (with altitude-deformed structure) could produce sufficient sodium atoms and thus lead to the formation of sodium layer upwelling structure. Correspondingly, FAI altitude-extended structure could be generated through the gradient drift instability in the altitude-extend (deformed) Es which provide plasma density gradients to support the instability development.

The Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) beacon has been widely used in ionospheric monitoring. The Chinese Beidou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) started to operate in 2012, with three kinds of constellations: the medium Earth orbit (MEO), the inclined geosynchronous satellite orbit (IGSO) and the geosynchronous Earth orbit (GEO). A compact, portable and low power GNSS observation instrument which is named BG2 GNSS ionospheric monitor was developed at the Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (IGGCAS). It is capable of tracking BDS, Global Positing System (GPS) and GLONASS signals with a sampling rate up to 5 Hz. To use the unique BDS GEO signals for ionospheric monitoring, the Beidou Ionospheric Observation Network (BION) utilizing the BG2 GNSS ionospheric monitor was established recently in China with a total of 31 sites. This paper describes the development of the GNSS ionospheric monitor, the construction of the network, data processing, and preliminary scientific research. As demonstrated in the following paper, the BDS GEO total electron content (TEC) data has shown unique value in some specific ionospheric studies due to the fact that it is not influenced by the mixed effect of spatial and temporal ionospheric variability as observed with other GNSS signals. As a part of the BION, the Septentrio PolaRx5s mutli-constellation GNSS ionospheric scintillation monitor will be installed at 14 observation sites at low latitude of China in the near future.

Ionospheric conductivity plays an important role in the magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling. The altitudinal distribution of Pedersen conductivity gives us a rough idea about the altitudinal distribution of Joule heating at high latitudes, which is of great significance regarding the response of upper atmosphere to geomagnetic energy inputs. Based on the electron density profiles (EDPs) derived from the Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere, and Climate (COSMIC) measurements during 2009-2014, Pedersen conductivity has been estimated. A climatologic study of the height-integrated Pedersen conductivity in both E (100-150 km) and F (150-600 km) regions, i.e., ΣPE and ΣPF, and their ratio (γP=ΣPE/ΣPF) under different solar and geomagnetic conditions has been conducted. Both ΣPE and ΣPF increase with F10.7 and Ap indices. Their ratio is smaller at higher solar flux, but larger under more disturbed geomagnetic conditions. Meanwhile, an interhemispheric asymmetry has been identified in the Ap and F10.7 dependencies of γP, which also varies with local time. These results will help to improve our understanding of the variations of the altitudinal energy distribution under different solar and geomagnetic conditions and the interhemispheric asymmetry of the high-latitude electrodynamics.

We developed a parameterized ionospheric electron density model based on the IRI-2012 model by spherical harmonic expansions in the horizontal and empirical orthogonal functions in the vertical. Then, after assimilating the monthly multisource total electron content (TEC) data from ground-based GPS, LEO radio occultation (RO), and the oceanic altimeter during magnetically quiet time into the model, we reanalyzed the monthly global ionospheric electron density TEC and other key parameters such as foF2 and NmF2. Both the reanalyzed and IRI-2012 model results were compared to the TEC measurements, the monthly median foF2 in a middle-latitude ionosonde station, and the global TEC map from CODE. The comparisons showed that both the reanalyzed and IRI results are consistent with those observations and the reanalyzed results perform better than the IRI model. Furthermore, the reanalyzed results are also consistent with the retrieved maps of HmF2, NmF2, and TEC from COSMIC RO observations. In summary, our method can reanalyze the global TEC and electron density using multisource TEC data assimilated into our model and improve the performance of IRI model.

In this paper, the amplitude scintillation index (s4) derived from COSMIC (Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere, and Climate) radio occultation (RO) technique and ground-based Ionospheric Scintillation Monitor (ISM) at Haikou station (geographic latitude: 20.0°N, geographic longitude: 110.3°E, and geomagnetic latitude: 10.02°N) is used to investigate the morphology of F region irregularities in the low latitudes of China. The RO events of tangent point within the range of 10–30°N latitude, 70–160°E longitude, and 150–500 km altitude are adopted to analyze the ionospheric scintillation characteristics. The percentage of ionospheric scintillation occurrence is computed to obtain its diurnal variations, seasonal trends, and the dependence on solar and geomagnetic activities. Based on a statistical analysis of a long-term period data set (years 2007 to 2013), we found that the ionospheric scintillation occurrence from both techniques show similar variations. After sunset (18 LT), the scintillation occurrence increases rapidly and reaches the maximum 3 h later. Then it decreases rapidly till 04 LT and remains low level during the daytime. The ionospheric scintillation tends to occur more frequently during vernal and autumnal equinoxes, especially in March–April and September–October. The equinoctial asymmetry could be seen clearly from the ground-based ISM observations. The peak ionospheric scintillation occurrence time varies with seasons. It is reached latest in summer, while in spring it is very close to that in autumn. The nighttime ionospheric scintillation occurrence tends to increase with increasing solar activities. The increasing tendency is more prominent in vernal and autumnal equinoxes than that in summer and winter. In general, the control of geomagnetic activities is apt to inhibit ionospheric scintillation at equinox nighttime. In summer and winter, the geomagnetic activities could either trigger or inhibit the generation of ionospheric irregularities in a much more complicated way. Thus, it can be concluded that the tangent point location does accurately represent the scattering region, at least in an average sense. The RO technique is demonstrated to be a useful tool for remotely sensing the terrestrial ionosphere on a global scale down to the regional scale in terms of scintillation occurrence.

A large number of studies have shown that equatorial plasma bubbles (EPBs) occur mainly after sunset, and they usually drift eastward. However, in this paper, an unusual EPB event was simultaneously observed by an all-sky imager and the Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) network in southern China, during the recovery phase of geomagnetic storm happened on 6–8 November 2015. Observations from both techniques show that the EPBs appeared near dawn. Interestingly, the observational results show that the EPBs continued to develop after sunrise, and disappeared about one hour after sunrise. The development stage of EPBs lasted for at least about 3 hours. To our knowledge, this is the first time that the evolution of EPBs developing around sunrise was observed by an all-sky imager and the GNSS network. Our observation showed that the EPBs drifted westward, which was different from the usually eastward drifts of post-sunset EPBs. The simulation from TIE-GCM model suggest that the westward drift of EPBs should be related to the enhanced westward winds at storm time. Besides, break and recombination processes of EPBs were observed by the all-sky imager in the event. Associated with the development of EPBs, increasing in the ionospheric F region peak height was also observed near sunrise, and we suggest the enhance upward vertical plasma drift during geomagnetic storm plays a major role in triggering the EPBs near sunrise.

Subauroral polarization streams (SAPS) are narrow channels of strong westward ion flows in both the subauroral ionosphere and the conjugated inner magnetosphere in the nightside during geomagnetic storms and substorms. The SAPS exhibit different types of structures like single-peak, double-peak, multi-peak, and oscillation structures. The SAPS are closely related with ionospheric conductivity and region-2 field-aligned currents. The existence of multiple types of SAPS likely indicates precipitations from different magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling dynamics.

The Global Navigation Satellite System Occultation Sounder (GNOS) has been planned for the five Feng-Yun 3 series (FY3) weather satellites since 2013, the first of which, the FY3C satellite, was launched successfully at 03:07 UTC on September 23, 2013 from the Taiyuan Satellite Base, Shanxi province, China, into the orbit of 836-km altitude and 98.75° inclination. In addition to the Global Positioning System (GPS), the FY3C/GNOS is capable of tracking the occultation signal of the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) (also called COMPASS) from space for the first time. The quality of BDS radio occultation (RO) has been verified in terms of signal-to-noise ratio. In this paper, the electron density profiles (EDPs) observed by FY3C/GNOS from both GPS RO and BDS RO, which were processed and archived in the National Satellite Meteorological Center of China Meteorological Administration, are compared with 32 globally distributed ionosonde observations, and then, we compare GPS RO EDPs with ionosonde observations at Mohe (52.0° N, 122.5° E), Beijing (40.3° N, 116.2° E), Wuhan (31.0° N, 114.5° E), and Sanya (18.3° N, 109.6° E). FY3C/GNOS EDPs show good agreement with ionosonde measurements, with larger discrepancies near the equatorial ionization anomaly region at Wuhan and Sanya. The ionospheric peak density (NmF2) and peak height (hmF2) derived from FY3C/GNOS EDPs are also compared with those obtained from the globally distributed ionosondes for the day of year 274–365 in 2013. In general, NmF2 and hmF2 have a higher correlation coefficient in the middle–high latitude than in the lower latitude region, due to the difference of ionospheric horizontal inhomogeneity. We also compared the NmF2 and hmF2 maps between FY3C/GNOS and the International Reference Ionosphere 2012 (IRI-2012) model. However, the wavenumber-4 structure, which can be indicated clearly from FY3C/GNOS observations, could not be reproduced well by IRI-2012. Further investigations show that the nighttime EDPs have obvious ionization enhancement around the ionospheric E layer over the Aurora and the South Atlantic Anomaly regions due to the energetic particle precipitation indicated by the Space Environment Monitor observations onboard FY3C.

The uncertainty of differential code bias (DCB) is one of the main error sources in the low Earth orbit (LEO) based total electron content (TEC) retrieval, whereas the derivation of the LEO DCB is not systematically studied. In this paper, we propose an improved DCB estimation method (ZERO method) based on the assumption that the LEO-based TEC can reach zero and also optimize the parameter configuration in the commonly used least square method (LSQ method). In the improved ZERO method, the combination of the lower quartile minimum relative TEC during each orbital revolution with the daily minimum relative TEC gives a stable and reliable DCB estimation. For the LSQ method, the 3-TECU cutoff vertical TEC with 10° cutoff elevation is considered to offer a reasonable DCB estimation. Subsequently, Global Positioning System (GPS) observations from multiple LEO satellites at different altitudes are used to study the variability of the LEO DCBs. Our results revealed that the LEO DCBs underwent obvious long-term variation and periodic oscillations of months. Moreover, the CHAMP data illustrated that the long-term variation of LEO DCBs is partly associated with the GPS satellite replacement, and the periodic variation can be attributed to the variation of the hardware thermal status, represented by the receiver CPU temperature in this study.

Topside ionospheric total electron content (TEC) observations from multiple low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellites have been used to investigate the local time, altitudinal, and longitudinal dependence of the topside ionospheric storm effect during both the main and recovery phases of the March 2015 geomagnetic storm. The results of this study show, for the first time, that there was a persistent topside TEC depletion that lasted for more than 3 days after the storm main phase at most longitudes, except in the Pacific Ocean region, where the topside TECs during the storm recovery phase were comparable to the quiet time ones. The observed depletion in the topside ionospheric TEC was relatively larger at higher altitudes in the evening sector and greater at local times closer to midnight. Moreover, the topside TEC patterns observed by MetOp-A (832 km) were different from those seen by other LEO satellites with lower orbital altitudes during the storm main phase and at the beginning of the recovery phase, especially in the evening sector. This suggests that the physical processes that control the storm time behavior of topside ionospheric response to storms are altitude-dependent.

Transient loss of lock is one of the key space weather effects on the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS). Based on the Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere, and Climate Global Positioning System (GPS) radio occultation (RO) observations during 2007–2011, we have analyzed the signal cycle slip (CS) occurrence comprehensively and its correlation to the ionospheric weather phenomena such as sporadic E (Es), equatorial F region irregularity (EFI), and the ionospheric equatorial ionization anomaly (EIA). The high vertical resolution of RO observations enables us to distinguish the CS resulting from different ionospheric layers clearly on a global scale. In the E layer, the CS is dominated by the Es occurrence, while in the F layer, the CS is mainly related to the EIA and EFI at low and equatorial latitudes. In the polar region, the CS is primarily related to polar cap electron density gradients. The overall average CS (>6 cycles) occurrence is ~23% per occultation, with the E (50–150 km) and F (150–600 km) layers contributing ~8.3% and ~14.7%, respectively. Awareness of the effect of the ionospheric weather on the CS of the low Earth orbit (LEO)-based GNSS signal could be beneficial to a variety of applications, including the LEO-based GNSS data processing and the corresponding hardware/firmware design.

Ionospheric F2 region peak densities (NmF2) are expected to have a positive correlation with total electron content (TEC), and electron densities usually show an anticorrelation with electron temperatures near the ionospheric F2 peak. However, during the 17 March 2015 great storm, the observed TEC, NmF2, and electron temperatures of the storm-enhanced density (SED) over Millstone Hill (42.6°N, 71.5°W, 72° dip angle) show a quiet different picture. Compared with the quiet time ionosphere, TEC, the F2 region electron density peak height (hmF2), and electron temperatures above ~220 km increased, but NmF2 decreased significantly within the SED. This SED occurred where there was a negative ionospheric storm effect near the F2 peak and below it, but a positive storm effect in the topside ionosphere. Thus, this SED event was a SED in TEC but not in NmF2. The very low ionospheric densities below the F2 peak resulted in a much reduced downward heat conduction for the electrons, trapping the heat in the topside in the presence of heat source above. This, in turn, increased the topside scale height so that even though electron densities at the F2 peak were depleted, TEC increased in the SED. The depletion in NmF2 was probably caused by an increase in the density of the molecular neutrals, resulting in enhanced recombination. In addition, the storm time topside ionospheric electron density profiles were much closer to diffusive equilibrium than the nonstorm time profiles, indicating less daytime plasma flow between the ionosphere and the plasmasphere.

Choi et al. (2019) analyzed the correlation between the ionospheric total electron content (TEC) and the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receiver differential code bias (DCB) and concluded that the long-term variations of the receiver DCB are caused by the corresponding variations in the ionosphere. Unfortunately, their method is problematic, resulting in conclusions that are not useful. The long-term variations of the Global Positioning System (GPS) DCBs are primarily attributed to the GPS satellite replacement with different satellite block series under the zero-mean constraint condition, rather than the ionospheric variability.

The ionospheric sporadic E (Es) layer has a significant impact on the global positioning system (GPS)/global navigation satellite system (GNSS) signals. These influences on the GPS/GNSS signals can also be used to study the occurrence and characteristics of the Es layer on a global scale. In this paper, 5.8 million radio occultation (RO) profiles from the FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC satellite mission and ground-based observations of Es layers recorded by 25 ionospheric monitoring stations and held at the UK Solar System Data Centre at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory and the Chinese Meridian Project were used to derive the hourly Es critical frequency ( f o Es) data. The global distribution of f o Es with a high spatial resolution shows a strong seasonal variation in f o Es with a summer maximum exceeding 4.0 MHz and a winter minimum between 2.0 and 2.5 MHz. The GPS/GNSS RO technique is an important tool that can provide global estimates of Es layers, augmenting the limited coverage and low-frequency detection threshold of ground-based instruments. Attention should be paid to small f o Es values from ionosondes near the instrumental detection limits corresponding to minimum frequencies in the range 1.28–1.60 MHz.

A solar radio burst (SRB) is the intense solar radio emission related to a solar flare and one of the extreme space weather events. If an SRB occurs with the enhancement in L band radio flux, it could influence the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signals through direct radio wave interferences. An SRB could result in reduction of signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and instantaneous or long-period loss of lock (LOL) on GNSS signals. Therefore decreasing the observation quality, which subsequently will influence all the applications based on these observations such as radio occultation technique and precise GNSS positioning. An SRB will mainly affect stations located in the sunlit hemisphere during radio flux enhancement, while the strength of the influence depends on the solar incidence angle, the antenna pattern, the tracking algorithm, and some other factors. The threshold value of SRB flux value that could result in a significant effect on GNSS signals is believed to be between 1000–10,000 solar flux units (SFU; 1 SFU = 10 − 22 W m − 2 Hz − 1 ) in L band. Significant SRBs can occur at solar minimum and maximum. During 2003–12, eight SRB events occurred that have shown degrading effects on GNSS signals in the literature, which is approximately 8.8 events per solar cycle. Although the occurrence ratio is not significantly high, we should pay sufficient attention to its side effects on modern society.

The mapping function is commonly used to convert slant to vertical total electron content (TEC) based on the assumption that the ionospheric electrons concentrate in a layer. The height of the layer is called ionospheric effective height (IEH) or shell height. The mapping function and IEH are generally well understood for ground-based global navigation satellite system (GNSS) observations, but they are rarely studied for the low earth orbit (LEO) satellite-based TEC conversion. This study is to examine the applicability of three mapping functions for LEO-based GNSS observations. Two IEH calculating methods, namely the centroid method based on the definition of the centroid and the integral method based on one half of the total integral, are discussed. It is found that the IEHs increase linearly with the orbit altitudes ranging from 400 to 1400 km. Model simulations are used to compare the vertical TEC converted by these mapping functions and the vertical TEC directly calculated by the model. Our results illustrate that the F&K (Foelsche and Kirchengast) geometric mapping function together with the IEH from the centroid method is more suitable for the LEO-based TEC conversion, though the thin layer model along with the IEH of the integral method is more appropriate for the ground-based vertical TEC retrieval.

The global positioning system (GPS) differential code biases (DCB) provided by the International GNSS Service (IGS) show solar-cycle-like variation during 2002---2013. This study is to examine whether this variation of the GPS DCBs is associated with ionospheric variability. The GPS observations from low earth orbit (LEO) satellites including CHAMP, GRACE and Jason-1 are used to address this issue. The GPS DCBs estimated from the LEO-based observations at different orbit altitudes show a similar tendency as the IGS DCBs. However, this solar-cycle-like dependency is eliminated when the DCBs of 13 continuously operating GPS satellites are constrained to zero-mean. Our results thus revealed that ionospheric variation is not responsible for the long-term variation of the GPS DCBs. Instead, it is attributed to the GPS satellite replacement with different satellite types and the zero-mean condition imposed on all satellite DCBs.

The occurrence of sporadic E (Es) layers has been a hot scientific topic for a long time. The GNSS (global navigation satellite system)-based radio occultation (RO) has proven to be a powerful technique for detecting the global Es layers. In this paper, we focus on some cases of complex Es layers based on the RO data from multiple missions processed in UCAR/CDAAC (University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) the Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere, and Climate (COSMIC) Data Analysis and Archive Center (CDAAC)). We first show some examples of multiple Es layers occurred in one RO event. Based on the evaluations between colocated simultaneous RO events and between RO and lidar observations, it could be concluded that some of these do manifest the multiple Es layer structures. We then show a case of the occurrence of Es in a broad region during a certain time interval. The result is then validated by independent ionosondes observations. It is possible to explain these complex Es structures using the popular wind shear theory. We could map the global Es occurrence routinely in the near future, given that more RO data will be available. Further statistical studies will enhance our understanding of the Es mechanism. The understanding of Es should benefit both Es-based long-distance communication and accurate neutral RO retrievals.

Atmosperic profiles derived from Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere, and Climate (COSMIC) radio occultation (RO) measurements make up for the lack of operational radiosonde soundings with a high spatiotemporal distribution, and their performance over China is assessed in this paper. COSMIC-retrieved atmospheric wet profiles from 2014 to 2015 are compared to the contemporaneous radiosonde profiles from 120 stations, and the vertical mean differences are used. The results show that the vertical mean biases of temperature, pressure and vapor pressure are −0.10 K, 0.69 hPa and −0.01 hPa, respectively, and that for refractivity is 0.17 N. Moreover, the temperature differences are positively correlated with station altitude, yet both the pressure and vapor pressure differences are negatively correlated with station latitude, as is the refractivity difference. The large temperature difference arising from the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP) region may be associated with the complex topography of the area and the limitations in the background model used in the COSMIC profile retrieval. Furthermore, negative refractivity bias between COSMIC and radiosonde data occurs below 5 km and is large in wet southern China, with a value of less than 1%. This result may be related to more humid conditions and super-refraction.

In this study, the ionospheric observations from ionosondes, ground-based GPS receivers, Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) and MetOp-A satellites, and Fabry-Perot interferometer over the Asian-Australian sector have been used to investigate the responses of the F2 peak and the topside ionosphere to the 2 October 2013 geomagnetic storm, particularly during the recovery phase. The comparison between the multiple simultaneous observations revealed a contrasting behavior of the topside ionosphere and the F2 peak in East Asia during the recovery phase. The upward looking total electron content from low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellites did not undergo such depletions as seen in the region near the F2 peak, and they even showed increases. Furthermore, the simulation results of the Thermosphere Ionosphere Electrodynamics General Circulation Model are used to explore the possible mechanisms responsible for the observed features. The model results and observations suggested that the contrasting behavior of the F2 peak and the topside ionosphere is mainly associated with the enhancement of the equatorward winds, albeit the disturbed electric fields could play an important role in producing it.

This letter reports for the first time the simulated error distribution of radio occultation (RO) electron density profiles (EDPs) from the Abel inversion in a systematic way. Occultation events observed by the COSMIC satellites are simulated during the spring equinox of 2008 by calculating the integrated total electron content (TEC) along the COSMIC occultation paths with the "true" electron density from an empirical model. The retrieval errors are computed by comparing the retrieved EDPs with the "true" EDPs. The results show that the retrieved NmF2 and hmF2 are generally in good agreement with the true values, but the reliability of the retrieved electron density degrades in low latitude regions and at low altitudes. Specifically, the Abel retrieval method overestimates electron density to the north and south of the crests of the equatorial ionization anomaly (EIA), and introduces artificial plasma caves underneath the EIA crests. At lower altitudes (E- and F1-regions), it results in three pseudo peaks in daytime electron densities along the magnetic latitude and a pseudo trough in nighttime equatorial electron densities.

Electron density in the topside ionosphere has significant variations with latitude, longitude, altitude, local time, season, and solar cycle. This paper focuses on the global and seasonal features of longitudinal structures of daytime topside electron density (Ne) at middle latitudes and their possible causes. We used in situ Ne measured by DEMETER and F2 layer peak height (hmF2) and peak density (NmF2) from COSMIC. The longitudinal variations of the daytime topside Ne show a wave number 2-type structure in the Northern Hemisphere, whereas those in the Southern Hemisphere are dominated by a wave number 1 structure and are much larger than those in the Northern Hemisphere. The patterns around December solstice (DS) in the Northern Hemisphere (winter) are different from other seasons, whereas the patterns in the Southern Hemisphere are similar in each season. Around March equinox (ME), June solstice (JS), and September equinox (SE) in the Northern Hemisphere and around ME, SE, and DS in the Southern Hemisphere, the longitudinal variations of topside Ne have similar patterns to hmF2. Around JS in the Southern Hemisphere (winter), the topside Ne has similar patterns to NmF2 and hmF2 does not change much with longitude. Thus, the topside variations may be explained intuitively in terms of hmF2 and NmF2. This approach works reasonably well in most of the situations except in the northern winter in the topside not too far from the F2 peak. In this sense, understanding variations in hmF2 and NmF2 becomes an important and relevant subject for this topside ionospheric study.