Vertical Topside electron Content comparison of TOPEX data with IRI and NeQuick models

AMARANTE, G.; AZPILICUETA, F.; RADICELLA, S.; BRUNINI, C.

Trieste, Italia.

Simposio; International Beacon Satellite Symposium; 2004

International Center for Theoretical Physics

The aim of this paper is to compare Vertical Total Electron Content VTEC values derived from TOPEX data in the topside of the ionosphere with those calculated by IRI and Nequick models. The bottomside part of the VTEC is calculated using experimental measurements from digisondes. The comparison is carried out using TOPEX measurements that correspond to ionograms obtained with digisondes at nearby locations at almost simultaneous times for the year 1999. It has been found that both models underestimate the topside VTEC in almost all the cases and the differences are below 20 TECU). In general, the model estimations are worst during nighttime.