The background covariance matrix establishes the transition from the data-to model-driven regions in the ionospheric data assimilation algorithms. To construct the background covariance matrix, the information about the spatial ionospheric correlations of model errors is required. This paper focuses on the horizontal component of the covariance matrix. It is the first study that presents global maps of zonal and meridional ionospheric correlation lengths derived for IRI-2016 model errors. The model errors were calculated using 20 years of GPS total electron content (TEC) values from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory Global Ionospheric Maps (GIMs) for different seasons, geomagnetic conditions, and universal times. The correlation lengths derived from IRI model errors were analyzed and compared to correlation lengths derived from day-today ionospheric variability calculated from GIM. It was found that the global distributions of the zonal and meridional correlation lengths between the two approaches are very different and that the correlation lengths derived from day-today TEC variability cannot be used as a proxy for the construction of covariance matrix for ionospheric data assimilation. A new method is proposed for the modeling of azimuthal distribution of the correlation distances that considers the nonisotropic nature of the distribution of correlations around the reference point.
The construction of the background covariance matrix is an important component of ionospheric data assimilation algorithms, such as Ionospheric Data Assimilation Four‐Dimensional (IDA4D). It is a matrix that describes the correlations between all the grid points in the model domain and determines the transition from the data‐driven to model‐driven regions. The vertical component of this matrix also controls the shape of the assimilated electron density profile. To construct the background covariance matrix, the information about the spatial ionospheric correlations is required. This paper focuses on the vertical component of the model covariance matrix. Data from five different incoherent scatter radars (ISR) are analyzed to derive the vertical correlation lengths for the International Reference Ionosphere (IRI) 2016 model errors, because it is the background model for IDA4D. The vertical distribution of the correlations is found to be asymmetric about the reference altitude around which the correlations are calculated, with significant differences between the correlation lengths above and below the reference altitude. It is found that the correlation distances not only increase exponentially with height but also have an additional bump‐on‐tail feature. The location and the magnitude of this bump are different for different radars. Solar flux binning introduces more pronounced changes in the correlation distances in comparison to magnetic local time (MLT) and seasonal binning of the data. The latitudinal distribution of vertical correlation lengths is presented and can be applied to the construction of the vertical component of the background model covariance matrix in data assimilation models that use IRI or similar empirical models as the background.
This paper presents the evaluation of the recently developed covariance model for the Ionospheric Data Assimilation Four-Dimensional (IDA4D) technique. The ionospheric data are generated using the Observation System Simulation Experiment Tool from the known ionospheric state produced by the physics-based Thermosphere-Ionosphere-Mesosphere Electrodynamics General Circulation Model. Several experiments are conducted to assess performance of IDA4D with data-driven vertical and horizontal covariance matrices. We show that the vertical part of the covariance model plays the most important role because it preserves the vertical structure of the F-region density layer and helps to correct a tomographic issue that arises when the slant total electron content is assimilated along the intersecting rays. The results show that the new covariance model improves the fidelity of IDA4D algorithm, making it more suitable for the regional assimilation with dense ground-based Global Positioning System data coverage.FORSYTHE ET AL.
Occurrence of the E region plasma irregularities is investigated using two Super Dual Auroral Radar Network (SuperDARN) South Pole (SPS) and Zhongshan (ZHO) radars that sample the same magnetic latitude deep within the high‐latitude plasma convection pattern but from two opposite directions. It is shown that the SPS and ZHO velocity distributions and their variations with the magnetic local time are different, with each distribution being asymmetric; i.e., a particular velocity polarity is predominant. This asymmetry in the E region velocity distribution is associated with the bump‐on‐tail of the distribution near the nominal ion acoustic speed Cs that is most likely due to the Farley‐Buneman instability (FBI) echoes or an inflection point of the distribution below nominal Cs that is most likely due to the gradient drift instability echoes. In contrast, the distribution of the convection velocity component was found to be symmetric, i.e., with no bump‐on‐tail or an inflection point, but with a bias (i.e., uniform shift) toward a particular polarity. It is demonstrated that the asymmetry in the convection pattern between the eastward and westward zonal components is unexpectedly strong, with the westward zonal component being predominant, especially at lower latitudes, while also exhibiting a strong interplanetary magnetic field By dependence. The observations are consistent with the notion that the asymmetry in the E region velocity distribution is highly sensitive to the bias in the convection component caused by the zonal convection component asymmetry and that the bump‐on‐tail or inflection point features may also depend on the irregularity height and the presence of strong density gradients modifying the FBI threshold value.
Characteristics and formation mechanisms of E region plasma irregularities at high latitudes are investigated using observations with the newly deployed Super Dual Auroral Radar Network (SuperDARN) radar at the South Pole Antarctic station (SPS) near a magnetic latitude (MLAT) of 75°S. It is shown that E region echo occurrence at SPS exhibits a diurnal variation that is significantly different from those at auroral and polar cap latitudes. Moreover, analysis of major spectral populations also showed a distinct and previously unreported diurnal pattern. The plasma drift velocity estimates are derived at E region ranges of SPS, leveraging the SPS radar's position well within the MLAT region where SuperDARN convection estimates are well constrained by the data. It is shown that E region irregularity occurrence increases when the convection direction is within the SPS field of view and/or when the plasma drift component is comparable with the nominal ion‐acoustic speed Cs of 350 m/s. This is the expected behavior for irregularities generated directly by the modified two‐stream plasma instability (MTSI). On the other hand, irregularity velocity dependence on convection velocity showed an unexpected saturation at velocity values smaller than nominal Cs. It is demonstrated that the convection velocity at which irregularity velocity starts to differ from the convection component and to approach a maximum value is dependent on the magnetic aspect angle. Moreover, the maximum velocity value itself also depends on the aspect angle. The observed behavior is discussed in context of recent models that involve evolving aspect angles as a key characteristic of MTSI saturation.
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