Some Investigations on the Ionosphere during 2012-2014 in China

In this national biannual report, we will outline some recent progresses in ionospheric studies conducted by Chinese scientists since 2012. The mentioned aspects include: the solar activity control of the ionosphere; couplings between the ionosphere, lower atmosphere and plasmasphere;ionospheric climatology and disturbances; ionospheric irregularities and scintillation; models, data assimilation and simulations; unusual phenomena of the ionosphere; possible seismic signatures presented in ionospheric observations, and some methodology progresses. These progresses will enhance our ability to observe the ionosphere, provide more reasonable understanding about the states of the ionosphere and underlying fundamental processes, and stimulate ionospheric modeling, forecasting and related applications.