Utility of Particle Precipitation Data as an Input to Thermospheric Density Models for Satellite Orbital Analysis

摘要

The purpose of this thesis is to determine the relative (compared to the Ap index) utility of global hemispheric power (PPE), as measured by the NOAA/TIROS satellite Total Energy Detector (TED) system, in describing magnetospherically induced upper thermospheric density perturbations. This was accomplished using satellite accelerometer, satellite orbital, Goettingen Ap, and PPE data from the geomagnetically active period of March 20th to April 10th, 1979. The first part of the study used Air Force Geophysics Laboratory (AFGL) satellite accelerometer thermospheric density data to determine the correlation between it and the PPE. This was then compared to the density data correlation with the Goettingen Ap. the data was scaled to optimize the meaning and linearity of the correlation coefficients and to emphasize any density fluctuations due to geomagnetic variations. The time series cross-correlation produced about a 6-hour lagged response in obtaining maximum correlation.