Data assimilation of plasmasphere and upper ionosphere using COSMIC/GPS slant TEC measurements

Abstract Increasing total electron content (TEC) measurements from the low Earth orbiting satellites to Global Positioning System satellites flourish the exploration of the ionosphere and plasmasphere for decades. This paper indicates a method that 3‐D Var is applied to assimilate precise orbit determination antenna TEC measurements of Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere, and Climate (COSMIC) satellites into the background global core plasma model (GCPM). The slant TEC data archived in the COSMIC Data Analysis and Archive Center from 500 km to 20,200 km are used to reconstruct a new electron density model. This model has a temporal resolution of 2 h and spatial resolutions of 2.5° in geomagnetic latitude, 5° in longitude, 50 km in the upper ionosphere, and several hundred kilometers in the plasmasphere. Preliminary results show that the data assimilation modifies the initial GCPM forecast to be better coincident with actual COSMIC measurements in internal quality check. Furthermore, independent validation with upper ionosphere‐retrieved electron density and TEC of global ionosphere maps implies a reasonable improvement in the estimation of plasmaspheric electron density after the assimilation.