Ionospheric plasma irregularities studied with Swarm satellites

Abstract

To study and characterise the ionospheric plasma irregularities at all latitudes, one can employ in-situ measurements by satellites in polar orbits, such as the European Space Agency’s Swarm mission. Based on the Swarm data, we have developed the Ionospheric Plasma IRregularities (IPIR) product for a global characterisation of ionospheric irregularities along the satellite track at all latitudes. This new Level-2 data product combines complementary datasets from the Swarm satellites: the electron density from the electric field instrument, the GPS data from the onboard GPS receiver, and the magnetic field data from the onboard magnetometers. This can be used as a new tool for global studies of ionospheric irregularities and turbulence.