Ionospheric Electron Density Over Resolute Bay According to E-CHAIM Model and RISR Radar Measurements

In this study, predictions of the E-CHAIM ionospheric model are compared with measurements by the incoherent scatter radars RISR at Resolute Bay, Canada, in the northern polar cap. It is shown that ratios of the E-CHAIM model-to-measured electron density R are close to one at heights around the F2 layer peak. This is particularly evident in summer. For other seasons, stronger spread of ratio values from 1 (coincidence) are observed. E-CHAIM underestimates the electron density at ionospheric topside and bottomside with typical ratios of R~0.9 and R~0.8, respectively. The underestimations are strongest in summer nighttime at the ionospheric topside and in equinoctial nighttime at the ionospheric bottomside. Overall, the model tends to not predict highest-observed peak electron densities and largest-observed heights of the peak.