Numerical forecast of the upper atmosphere and ionosphere using GAIA

Abstract

Upper atmospheric conditions are crucial for the safe operation of spacecraft orbiting near Earth and for communication and positioning systems using radio signals. To understand and predict the upper atmospheric conditions, which include complex variations affected by both low altitude and upper surrounding environments, we have developed a quasi-real-time and forecast simulations using a physical global model, the Ground-to-topside model of Atmosphere and Ionosphere for Aeronomy (GAIA). The GAIA simulation system provides a global distribution of ionospheric total electron content (TEC) with background atmospheric and electric distributions including a few-days prediction. The prediction accuracy for the detection of significant ionospheric storms decreases with increasing lead time, i.e., the duration of the model simulation which is not constrained by realistic input parameters. Similar characteristic variations associated with sudden stratospheric warmings (SSWs) are reproduced with the full or limited input of meteorological data at least the prior 3 days. This is a first step toward the usage of GAIA for space weather forecasting.