Testing Ionospheric Model NeQuick 2 Using Satellite Measurements of Electron Concentration

Abstract

The results of studying the systematic errors of the ionospheric model NeQuick 2, verified using electron concentration data of satellite measurements from the Swarm mission for 2014, are presented. The study utilized measurements obtained by Langmuir probes installed on the spacecraft of the mission during the period of solar activity maximum. The research allowed for determining the mean modeling errors in different latitude zones and geomagnetic conditions and obtaining spatial distributions of systematic deviations of the model from the measurement data. The characteristic deviation values amount to 80\(\%\), with the error increasing up to 300\(\%\) in certain geographic regions under geomagnetic disturbance conditions. Zones of elevated deviations are observed at high latitudes in the southern hemisphere. The results of the study will be useful for refining the operational conditions of radio facilities and various applications, including improving navigation and communication systems and enhancing ionospheric models.