Testing of the Method Retrieving a Consistent Set of Aeronomic Parameters With Millstone Hill ISR Noontime hₘF₂ Observations

Abstract

Millstone Hill incoherent scatter radar (ISR) noontime hₘF₂ observations in the (2000-2016) period have been used to test the thermospheric parameters from ionosonde observations (THERION) method. The input parameters apart from the standard indices of solar F10.7 and geomagnetic Aₚ activity include noontime fₒF₂ and plasma frequency at 180-km height read from the fₚ(h) height profiles scaled from the ionograms with the Autoscala program. The THERION method provides a self-consistent set of the main aeronomic parameters responsible for the mid-latitude daytime ionospheric F-region formation, hₘF₂ in particular. Overall, 60 dates under various solar and geomagnetic activity levels have been used for the analysis. The retrieved hₘF₂ values demonstrate a standard deviation of 10.6 km, and this is close to the expected inaccuracy of hₘF₂ determination with the Millstone Hill ISR. The correlation coefficient between the retrieved and the observed hₘF₂ is 0.937 ± 0.051, which is significant at the confidence level >99.9%. The undertaken analysis has confirmed the earlier obtained conclusion on the possibility to extract the main aeronomic parameters from the routine ionosonde observations with the THERION method.