Exploring the Ionosphere: The Dayside Ionosphere
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- Visualizations by:
- Tom Bridgman
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- Scientific consulting by:
- Jeff Klenzing
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- Produced by:
- Genna Duberstein
- View full credits
The colors over Earth represent model data from the IRI (International Reference Ionosphere) model of the density of the singly-ionized oxygen atom at an altitude of 350 kilometers. Red represents high density. The ion density is enhanced above and below the geomagnetic equator (not perfectly aligned with the geographic equator) on the dayside due to the ionizing effects of solar ultraviolet radiation combined with the effects of high-altitude winds and the geomagnetic field. This ion density decreases at night as the ions recombine with free electrons.
A view of the singly-ionizing oxygen atom on the dayside of Earth. This represents the variation of the enhancments due to variation in the geomagnetic field. In this version, the oxygen ion ionosphere model is sampled at 15 minute cadence which creates some 'jumping' in the ionosphere enhancements.
Credits
Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio
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Visualizer
- Tom Bridgman (Global Science and Technology, Inc.) [Lead]
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Writer
- Sarah Frazier (SGT)
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Scientists
- Jeff Klenzing (None) [Lead]
- Sarah L. Jones (NASA/GSFC)
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Producer
- Genna Duberstein (ADNET Systems, Inc.) [Lead]
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Technical support
- Ian Jones (ADNET Systems, Inc.)
- Laurence Schuler (ADNET Systems, Inc.)
Series
This visualization can be found in the following series:Datasets used in this visualization
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IRI 2016 (International Reference Ionosphere)
ID: 944
Note: While we identify the data sets used in these visualizations, we do not store any further details, nor the data sets themselves on our site.
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