Open AccessA New Way of Estimating the Spatial and Temporal Components of the Vertical Total Electron Content Gradient Based on UPC‐IonSAT Global Ionosphere Maps
Author(s) -
Liu Qi,
HernándezPajares Manuel,
Yang Heng,
MonteMoreno Enric,
GarcíaRigo Alberto,
Lyu Haixia,
OlivaresPulido Germán,
OrúsPérez Raül
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
space weather
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.254
H-Index - 56
ISSN - 1542-7390
DOI - 10.1029/2021sw002926
Subject(s) - ionosphere , total electron content , space weather , quiet , geomagnetic storm , earth's magnetic field , perturbation (astronomy) , meteorology , context (archaeology) , environmental science , geodesy , geography , geology , geophysics , physics , tec , archaeology , quantum mechanics , magnetic field
The determination of the ionospheric perturbation degree is essential to describe the ionosphere state for space weather monitoring. A new method for estimating the spatial and temporal components of the Vertical Total Electron Content (VTEC) gradient is introduced. The new method is based on VTEC estimated at each grid point of Global Ionosphere Map (GIM) by the UPC‐IonSAT research group of the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya. Depending on the requirement, the VTEC spatial gradients can be derived at selected regions or grid points of the GIM on a global scale. According to the comparison with previous studies over the Europe region during quiet ionosphere state and two severe geomagnetic storms, the new method has proven to be reliable and has a great potential for the monitoring of ionospheric perturbation degree on a global scale. In addition, the associated warning of disturbed ionosphere might be available in the context of the on‐going development of real‐time GIMs.