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Assessing E-CHAIM ionospheric model with the SuperDARN radars
  • Alexandre Koustov,
  • Sydney Ullrich,
  • David Themens
Alexandre Koustov
University of Saskatchewan

Corresponding Author:sasha.koustov@usask.ca

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Sydney Ullrich
University of Saskatchewan
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David Themens
University of Birmingham, Space Environment and Radio Engineering Group (SERENE)
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Abstract

The Empirical-Canadian High Arctic Ionospheric Model (E-CHAIM) has been shown to reasonably reproduce important general features of the electron density distribution in the high-latitude ionosphere such as solar cycle and seasonal variations of the F layer peak and the location of the ionospheric trough. The utility of the model for practical applications, such as predictions of HF radio wave propagation, is less clear. In this study, we consider ground-scatter (GS) data for three SuperDARN radars at various latitudes to compare the observed skip distance against ray tracings based on E-CHAIM predictions. Monthly-averaged GS band locations in 2010-2018 are computed for every half-hour of the day, and are correlated with modelled skip distances. We show that the agreement is better during summer months and we discuss the quality of predictions at various latitudes.