Open AccessInternational Reference Ionosphere 2016: From ionospheric climate to real‐time weather predictions
Author(s) -
Bilitza D.,
Altadill D.,
Truhlik V.,
Shubin V.,
Galkin I.,
Reinisch B.,
Huang X.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
space weather
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.254
H-Index - 56
ISSN - 1542-7390
DOI - 10.1002/2016sw001593
Subject(s) - ionosphere , international reference ionosphere , meteorology , environmental science , universal time , computer science , atmospheric sciences , geography , geology , physics , geophysics , total electron content , astronomy , tec
The paper presents the latest version of the International Reference Ionosphere model (IRI‐2016) describing the most important changes and improvements that were included with this version and discussing their impact on the IRI predictions of ionospheric parameters. IRI‐2016 includes two new model options for the F 2 peak height h m F 2 and a better representation of topside ion densities at very low and high solar activities. In addition, a number of smaller changes were made concerning the use of solar indices and the speedup of the computer program. We also review the latest developments toward a Real‐Time IRI. The goal is to progress from predicting climatology to describing the real‐time weather conditions in the ionosphere.