Variations of the total electron content over three European stations

MOSERT, M., D. BURESOVA , M. GENDE, C. BRUNINI, B. DE LA MORENA, S. MAGDALENO, R.G. EZQUER, D.ALTADILL, M. CABRERA

Kagoshima, Japon

Workshop; IRI Workshop 2009; 2009

Kagoshima University

This paper studies the behavior of the vertical total electron content obtained with GPS satellites signals (GPSTEC) and total electron content derived from Digisondes (ITEC). The data base includes ionograms and GPS observations recorded at El Arenosillo (37.1N; 353.3E), Pruhonice (50.0° N; 15.0°E) and Ebro (40.8°N,0.5°E)  during different seasonal and solar activity conditions. The diurnal, seasonal and solar activity variations of the two TEC estimations show the good correlation between the two techniques. The quantitative differences between GPSTEC and ITEC (due to the contribution from the plasmasphere) are also analyzed as a function of the hour of the day, seasons, and solar activity. The results are in agreement with those reported by other authors. This study shows that it is possible to estimate the plasmaspheric electron content in places where ionospheric soundings are carried out simultaneously with GPS measurements.