Investigating the Main Features of the Correlation Between Electron Density and Temperature in the Topside Ionosphere Through Swarm Satellites Data

0584348 - ÚFA 2025 RIV US eng J - Journal Article
Pignalberi, A. - Giannattasio, F. - Truhlík, Vladimír - Coco, I. - Pezzopane, M. - Alberti, T.
Investigating the Main Features of the Correlation Between Electron Density and Temperature in the Topside Ionosphere Through Swarm Satellites Data.
Journal of Geophysical Research-Space Physics. Roč. 129, č. 3 (2024), č. článku e2023JA032201. ISSN 2169-9380. E-ISSN 2169-9402
Institutional support: RVO:68378289
Keywords : Spearman correlation coefficient * electron density * electron temperature * ESA Swarm B satellite * topside ionosphere
OECD category: Meteorology and atmospheric sciences
Impact factor: 2.8, year: 2022
Method of publishing: Limited access
https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2023JA032201

Electron density (Ne) and electron temperature (Te) observations collected by Langmuir Probes on board the European Space Agency (ESA) Swarm B satellite are used to characterize their correlation in the topside ionosphere at an altitude of about 500 km. Spearman correlation coefficient values (RSpearman) are calculated on joint probability distributions between Ne and Te for selected conditions. The large data set of Swarm B observations at 2-Hz rate, covering the years 2014–2022, allowed investigating the correlation properties of the topside ionospheric plasma on a global scale, for different diurnal and seasonal conditions, with both a coverage and a detail never reached before. Results are given as maps of RSpearman as a function of the Quasi-Dipole (QD) magnetic latitude and magnetic local time (MLT) coordinates. The characterization of the correlation at high latitudes, along with the description of the diurnal trend at all latitudes, are the new findings of this study. The main correlation features point out a negative correlation at the morning overshoot, during daytime at mid latitudes, and during nighttime at the ionospheric trough and subauroral latitudes. Conversely, a positive correlation dominates the nighttime hours at mid and low latitudes and, to a minor extent, the low latitudes from 09 MLT onwards. A seasonal dependence of the correlation is noticeable only at very high latitudes where the general pattern of the negative correlation does not hold around ±75° QD latitude in the summer season. Results from Swarm B have been statistically compared and discussed with observations from the Arecibo, Jicamarca, and Millstone Hill incoherent scatter radars.
Permanent Link: https://hdl.handle.net/11104/0352272