Annales Geophysicae
Annales Geophysicae
ANGEO
Articles | Volume 42, issue 1
Articles | Volume 42, issue 1
https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-42-255-2024
© Author(s) 2024. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-42-255-2024
© Author(s) 2024. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Articles | Volume 42, issue 1
Regular paper
 | Highlight paper
 | 
10 Jun 2024
Regular paper | Highlight paper |  | 10 Jun 2024

On the importance of middle-atmosphere observations on ionospheric dynamics using WACCM-X and SAMI3

Fabrizio Sassi, Angeline G. Burrell, Sarah E. McDonald, Jennifer L. Tate, and John P. McCormack

Data sets

Development and validation of the Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model with thermosphere and ionosphere extension (WACCM-X 2.0) (https://www.cesm.ucar.edu/models/cesm2/download) H.-L. Liu et al. https://doi.org/10.1002/2017MS001232

High-Altitude (0–100 km) global atmospheric reanalysis system: Description and application to the 2014 austral winter of the Deep Propagating Gravity Wave Experiment (DEEPWAVE) (https://map.nrl.navy.mil) S. D. Eckermann et al. https://doi.org/10.1175/MWR-D-17-0386.1

Comparison of mesospheric winds from high-altitude meteorological analysis system and meteor radar observations during the boreal winters of 2009–2010 and 2012–2013 (https://map.nrl.navy.mil) J. McCormack et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jastp.2016.12.007

Model code and software

aburrell/apexpy: ApexPy Version 2.0.1 C. van der Meeren et al. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7818719

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Editor-in-chief
This paper gives an outlook on what will happen to the predictability of the ionosphere and upper atmosphere in the case we no longer should have relevant measurements in the mesosphere. It shows how important global measurements in the mesosphere are for the predictability of the variability of the ionosphere and thus for our communication and navigation systems. This is particularly important because the satellites that currently provide us with observations of the mesosphere have all already far exceeded their originally planned lifetimes (e.g. SABER, MLS, ...).
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Short summary
This study shows how middle-atmospheric data (starting at 40 km) affect day-to-day ionospheric variability. We do this by using lower atmospheric measurements that include and exclude the middle atmosphere in a coupled ionosphere–thermosphere model. Comparing the two simulations reveals differences in two thermosphere–ionosphere coupling mechanisms. Additionally, comparison against observations showed that including the middle-atmospheric data improved the resulting ionosphere.
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