Comprehensive Comparison of an Ionospheric Data Assimilation Model and the International Reference Ionosphere

Ionospheric parameters from the Utah State University (USU) Global Assimilation of Ionospheric Measurement Gauss-Markov (GAIM-GM) model are compared to those obtained from International Reference Ionosphere (IRI). The GAIM-GM model is run to provide both specification and forecasts of the ionosphere; however, for this study historical runs will be used from GAIM-GM. Validation and testing versions of GAIM-GM are run in the Space Weather Center (SWC) at USU. The IRI is an empirical model that is the international standard for the specification of ionospheric parameters based on a wide range of worldwide measurements from ground-based and satellite observations. The comparison of GAIM-GM and the IRI will primarily be via the peak electron density (NmF2) and the peak height (hmF2) over North America. Comparisons will be shown for high, medium and low solar activity, for the summer and winter solstices, and the fall and spring equinoxes. Comparisons will also be shown for different magnetic activity levels.