'Assessment of the monthly mean variability of the F2peak parameters based onCOSMIC/ FORMOSAT‐3 radio occultation profiles'

BRUNINI C; AZPILICUETA F.; BILITZA DIETER; JANCHES D.

Olsztyn

Workshop; IRI Workshop 2013 "IRI and GNSS"; 2013

We explore the possibility of using COSMIC/FORMOSAT-3 radio occultation profiles (ROP) to establish an empirical model that can be used to estimate the errors of the and parameters computed from the International Reference Ionosphere (IRI) model. The ROP are scanned and validated with a re-weighted Least Square procedure complemented with a statistical test. That procedure allows retrieving from the ROP the and parameters along with their error estimates. These values are taken as representative of the instantaneous conditions prevailing in the ionosphere and basis for estimating the errors of the IRI parameters. Those error are interpreted in terms of a systematic monthly mean bias plus a day-to-day deviation and these two quantities are described as a five-dimensional function that primarily depend on the month, the solar activity, the geomagnetic conditions, the modip latitude, and the Local Time. Empirical values of these functions are estimated from the ROP and provided on a regular grid. Since these research is restricted to low solar activity and quiet geomagnetic conditions, the grid is reduced from five to three dimensions: month, Local Time, and modip.