Long-Term Changes in Ionospheric Climate in Terms of foF2
Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Czech Academy of Sciences, 14100 Prague, Czech Republic
Academic Editor: Guozhu Li
Atmosphere 2022, 13(1), 110; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos13010110
Received: 11 December 2021
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Revised: 3 January 2022
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Accepted: 7 January 2022
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Published: 10 January 2022
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ionospheric and Magnetic Signatures of Space Weather Events at Middle and Low Latitudes: Experimental Studies and Modelling)
There is not only space weather; there is also space climate. Space climate includes the ionospheric climate, which is affected by long-term trends in the ionosphere. One of the most important ionospheric parameters is the critical frequency of the ionospheric F2 layer, foF2, which corresponds to the maximum ionospheric electron density, NmF2. Observational data series of foF2 have been collected at some stations for as long as over 60 years and continents are relatively well covered by a network of ionosondes, instruments that measure, among others, foF2. Trends in foF2 are relatively weak. The main global driver of long-term trends in foF2 is the increasing concentration of greenhouse gases, namely CO2, in the atmosphere. The impact of the other important trend driver, the secular change in the Earth’s main magnetic field, is very regional, being positive in some regions, negative in others, and neither in the rest. There are various sources of uncertainty in foF2 trends. One is the inhomogeneity of long foF2 data series. The main driver of year-to-year changes in foF2 is the quasi-eleven-year solar cycle. The removal of its effect is another source of uncertainty. Different methods might provide somewhat different strengths among trends in foF2. All this is briefly reviewed in the paper.
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Keywords:
ionospheric climate; foF2; long-term trends
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MDPI and ACS Style
Laštovička, J. Long-Term Changes in Ionospheric Climate in Terms of foF2. Atmosphere 2022, 13, 110. https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos13010110
AMA Style
Laštovička J. Long-Term Changes in Ionospheric Climate in Terms of foF2. Atmosphere. 2022; 13(1):110. https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos13010110
Chicago/Turabian StyleLaštovička, Jan. 2022. "Long-Term Changes in Ionospheric Climate in Terms of foF2" Atmosphere 13, no. 1: 110. https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos13010110
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