Inversion of Ionospheric Electron Density Profiles with COSMIC Occultation Data

The launched COSMIC (constellation observing system for meteorology ionosphere and climate) satellite in 2006,operated by Taiwan of China and America,provides about 2 000 occultation data everyday,which is abundant for atmospheric probing research.The inversed electron density profiles through Abel integral method and the onion peeling method both have been compared with the results obtained by traditional ionospheric observation methods.Based on this,the statistical analysis has been made on the comparison results of the important ionosphere parameters,and the problems existed in the inversion process,together with the impact of fitting and interpolation methods on the occultation have been discussed.The numerical results indicate that the electron density profiles obtained by the two kinds of inversion methods accord well with the results observed by ionosond.The computed foF2 is consistent with the results of ionosond.However,large error exists between hmax and hmF2.In order to obtain a reliable distribution of the ionosphere over some places,we need to combine the two methods for analysis,or to improve the inversion methods so as to acquire high-credible hmax values.