List of Student Problems

Problem A (Advisor: D. Bilitza)

IRI now includes three options for the extension into the plasmasphere: (1) the NeQuick topside extrapolated to plasmaspheric heights; (2) the COR2 topside option with the Gallagher et al (2000) plasmasphere model; (3) COR2 with the Ohzogin et al (20 ) plasmasphere model. Study the differences between these three options and compare with TEC data.
DATA: TEC data from CDAWeb oder CDDIS; MODEL: Use Fortran code from irimodel.org.

Problem B (Advisor: S. Watanabe)

Study the relationship between electron density (Ne) and electron temperature (Te) in the middle ionosphere with Swarm and Incoherent Scatter data. Investigate how well IRI represents the relationship that you find between these parameters. IRI includes an option to use the anti-correlation between Ne and Te to get near real-time Te values if measured Ne values are available. Assess the reliability of this option based on your study results.
DATA: DMSP and/or ISS-FPMU (V. Truhlik has data on disk), Madrigal-IS; MODEL: CCMC-IRIweb;

Problem C (Advisor: Vladimir Truhlik)

What are main drivers of the Sporadic-E occurrence probability and how is it globally distributed? Use the data compiled by Christina Arras that she has made available for IRI modelling. The probabilities are based on her analysis of COSMIC I and II observations and from many more satellites.
DATA: COSMIC I and II (provided by Vladimir Truhlik);

Problem D (Advisor: Ivan Galkin)

Civil aviation relies on HF communications for their safety messaging en route. However, geostorm activity may deplete plasma density in the ionosphere, causing depression of the Maximum Usable Frequency (MUF) for HF communications. Find a technique to generate safety alerts to the aviation ground dispatchers and pilots about ongoing MUF depression anomalies using the global ionosonde network and associated models: IRTAM for the ionospheric plasma density and RayTRIX for HF trans-ionospheric signal propagation.
TOOLS: (1) GAMBIT Explorer at giro.uml.edu for IRTAM (MUF and slab thickness). (2) Online RayTRIX CQP signal propagation model at giro.uml.edu;.

Problem E (Advisor: Jaeheung Park)

Compare the climatologies of spread-F, scintillations, and plasma bubbles. Are there similarities, differences. How can your results be explained in terms of the processes that cause these phenomena.
DATA: look for papers discussing these climatologies; MODEL: CCMC-IRIweb;

Problem F (Advisor: S.-R. Zhang)

IRI-2020 includes a new representation of the ion temperature. Study the differences and improvements compared to the older version and how well do both versions perform in representing characteristic diurnal, seasonal and solar activity variations observed by incoherent scatter radars (ISRs).
DATA: COSMIC-IVM (V. Truhlik can provide the data) Madrigal ISR; MODEL: IRI-Fortran-Code;

Problem G (Advisor: A. Krankowski)

Study the extend of the Equatorial Ionization Anomaly (EIA) in Local Time with COSMIC I and II data and GNSS-TEC data. For what time period are separate cusps observed on both sides of the magnetic equator and when a single maximum at the magnetic equator. Compare with IRI predictions.
DATA: COSMIC profile data, TEC data from CDDIS and CDAWeb; MODEL: CCMC-IRIweb;

Problem H

Studying plasmasphere models. Most plasmasphere models assume a simple dipole magnetic field which allows for a simple relationship between height h in km, L-value, and magnetic latitude mlat: L = [1.0+h/Re] / [cos(mlat)*cos(mlat)] with the earth radius Re in km. Compare the L-values determined with this simple method versus the more realistic values found with the multipole IGRF model (you can use the IRI code to get L from IGRF). IRI now includes one version with the plasmapause included (irisub_with_pp.for) and several options without plasmapause. Study the differences and investigate the effect on the total electron content.

Websites for getting data and model values:

- IRI model values using IRIweb at https://ccmc.gsfc.nasa.gov/modelweb/models/iri2016_vitmo.php. (Questions: D. Bilitza)
- Incoherent Scatter data from Madrigal (http://madrigal.haystack.mit.edu/madrigal/) (Questions: S.-R. Zhang)
- IRI real-time foF2 from the site http://giro.uml.edu/IRTAM/ (Questions: I. Galkin)
- Digisonde data from DIDBase at the Global Ionosphere Radio observatory (http://giro.uml.edu) (Questions: I. Galkin)
- Swarm data from the Swarm data center at ESA at https://earth.esa.int/web/guest/swarm/data-access (Questions: V. Truhlik)
- IGS-TEC data from NASA CDDIS archive at https://cddis.nasa.gov/Data_and_Derived_Products/ (Questions: A. Krankowski)
- IGS-TEC data and movie display from NASA CDAWeb at https://cdaweb.gsfc.nasa.gov/ (Questions: D. Bilitza)
- COSMIC F-peak and topside electron densities for the COSMIC data center at http://cdaac-www.cosmic.ucar.edu/cdaac/products.html (Questions: Peter, tiger)

A few additional notes:

The first step is to develop a study plan with the different tasks to be accomplished and the assignments for different team members. Consult with the problem advisor on this step. Please contact the data/model source advisor (listed in the section “Websites for getting data and model values”) with questions you may have; he may have a faster way to get to the data that you need for your study. Please note that you are encouraged to use additional data sources if you have access to these data sources and if they are beneficial for solving your problem task. Plan on meeting as team every day and review and discuss the different tasks and how far team members have succeeded. Please keep plots and tables that you produce from early on for your final presentation. Towards the end of the first week sit down as team and discuss the layout of your final PowerPoint presentation. Plan on having about 10 slides maximum that include slides to cover the following important items: (1) state the problem, (2) explain your methodology to solve the problem, (3) explain the data and model used, and (4) your results and interpretation. Discuss with your problem advisor and benefit from the feedback that you receive during the dry runs on Friday of the first week.