Initial Observations from CINDI - C/NOFS : Views of the Ionosphere Under an Extremely Quiet Sun
Abstract
The CINDI project is being conducted as part of the payload for the C/NOFS satellite. The present ionospheric and thermospheric measurements are associated with the lowest average monthly levels of F10.7 recorded since 1954. While these conditions represent observational challenges to the instrumentation, a remarkable picture of the ionosphere can be revealed by the orbit that scans all longitudes and local time, all altitudes between 400 km and 850 km and all latitudes between -12 and +12 degrees in about 60 days. During these very quiet solar conditions most of the neutral atmosphere is contracted to altitudes below the satellite perigee of 400 km with temperatures below 600 K. In the ionosphere the O+/H+ transition height falls to 450 km altitude during the nighttime and rarely rises above 800 km during the day. In this presentation we will describe the instrument performance capabilities to date and discuss the behavior of the ionosphere that is revealed by the initial few months of data.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2008
- Bibcode:
- 2008AGUFMSA13A..02H
- Keywords:
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- 2415 Equatorial ionosphere;
- 2419 Ion chemistry and composition (0335);
- 2481 Topside ionosphere