Real-time Ionospheric Characterization

A versatile and user-friendly software system for describing the 3-D and 4-D distributions in the ionosphere has been developed at the Center For Remote Sensing, Inc. (CFRSI). The system can accept a variety of ionospheric data from diverse sources and geographic locations. The data may be fed in real time or can be processed off-line and the software system provides a complete specification of the ionosphere over any region of the world. It starts with a user-specified ionospheric model as initial guess and assimilates various data sets in a self-consistent manner. The system is extremely user-friendly and is available for collaborative research and for other specific applications. Go to the Space Weather section and then the Real-Time Ionospheric Characterization section for details.

Some of the features of the system are described below:

Highlights of the RTIC

• Specifies the ionosphere over any region of the earth.
• Is self-consistent in terms of experimental data and constrained by ionospheric models.
• Has user-defined ionospheric models.
• Provides 3-D and 4-D specifications within the constraints. Accepts a variety of data: TEC from GPS, GPSMET, ground-based and satellite borne beacons and/or receivers, ionosonde (vertical and oblique), radio propagation data, radar data, and optical.
• Utilizes various techniques and tool-kits.
• Is extremely user-friendly; can be used at various levels of sophistication.
• Can be used as research and educational tools.
• Can be used as operational system.
• Can be used for specifying, characterizing, nowcasting, forecasting, model validation, simulation, estimation of confidence limits, co-ordinate registration, single site location, monitoring of passive emissions, diagnostics, communication through ionosphere, GPS performance estimation, radar, or optical emissions.