An exospheric temperature model from CHAMP thermospheric density

摘要

In this study, the effective exospheric temperature, named as T∞, derived from thermospheric densities measured by the CHAMP satellite during 2002–2010 was utilized to develop an exospheric temperature model (ETM) with the aid of the NRLMSISE-00 model. In the ETM, the temperature variations are characterized as a function of latitude, local time, season, and solar and geomagnetic activities. The ETM is validated by the independent GRACE measurements, and it is found that T∞ and thermospheric densities from the ETM are in better agreement with the GRACE data than those from the NRLMSISE-00 model. In addition, the ETM captures well the thermospheric equatorial anomaly feature, seasonal variation, and the hemispheric asymmetry in the thermosphere.