Longitudinal variations in the F region ionosphere and the topside ionosphere-plasmasphere: Observations and model simulations

The COSMIC observations clearly reveal the presence of substantial longitude variations in the F region and topside ionosphere-plasmasphere, and to elucidate the source of the longitude variations, results are presented based on the coupling between the Global Ionosphere Plasmasphere model and the Thermosphere Ionosphere Electrodynamics General Circulation Model. The model simulations demonstrate that the orientation of the geomagnetic field plays a fundamental role in generating significant longitude variations in the topside ionosphere-plasmasphere but does not considerably influence longitude variations in the F region ionosphere.

The model results further confirm that nonmigrating tides are the primary mechanism for generating longitude variations in the F region ionosphere. The coupled model additionally demonstrates that nonmigrating tides are also of considerable importance for the generation of longitude variations in the topside ionosphere-plasmasphere TEC.