Lower-thermosphere-ionosphere (LTI) quantities: Current status of measuring techniques and models

The lower-thermosphere-ionosphere (LTI) system consists of the upper atmosphere and the lower part of the ionosphere and as such comprises a complex system coupled to both the atmosphere below and space above. The atmospheric part of the LTI is dominated by laws of continuum fluid dynamics and chemistry, while the ionosphere is a plasma system controlled by electromagnetic forces driven by the magnetosphere, the solar wind, as well as the wind dynamo. The LTI is hence a domain controlled by many different physical processes. However, systematic in situ measurements within this region are severely lacking, although the LTI is located only 80 to 200 km above the surface of our planet. This paper reviews the current state of the art in measuring the LTI, either in situ or by several different remote-sensing methods. We begin by outlining the open questions within the LTI requiring high-quality in situ measurements, before reviewing directly observable parameters and their most important derivatives. The motivation for this review has arisen from the recent retention of the Daedalus mission as one among three competing mission candidates within the European Space Agency (ESA) Earth Explorer 10 Programme. However, this paper intends to cover the LTI parameters such that it can be used as a background scientific reference for any mission targeting in situ observations of the LTI.

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Author Palmroth, Minna
Grandin, Maxime
Sarris, Theodoros
Doornbos, Eelco
Tourgaidis, Stelios
Aikio, Anita
Buchert, Stephan
Clilverd, Mark A.
Dandouras, Iannis
Heelis, Roderick
Hoffmann, Alex
Ivchenko, Nickolay
Kervalishvili, Guram
Knudsen, David J.
Kotova, Anna
Liu, Hanli
Malaspina, David M.
March, Günther
Marchaudon, Aurélie
Marghitu, Octav
Matsuo, Tomoko
Miloch, Wojciech J.
Moretto-Jørgensen, Therese
Mpaloukidis, Dimitris
Olsen, Nils
Papadakis, Konstantinos
Pfaff, Robert
Pirnaris, Panagiotis
Siemes, Christian
Stolle, Claudia
Suni, Jonas
van den IJssel, Jose
Verronen, Pekka T.
Visser, Pieter
Yamauchi, Masatoshi
Publisher UCAR/NCAR - Library
Publication Date 2021-02-25T00:00:00
Digital Object Identifier (DOI) Not Assigned
Alternate Identifier N/A
Resource Version N/A
Topic Category geoscientificInformation
Progress N/A
Metadata Date 2023-08-18T18:30:00.534635
Metadata Record Identifier edu.ucar.opensky::articles:24197
Metadata Language eng; USA
Suggested Citation Palmroth, Minna, Grandin, Maxime, Sarris, Theodoros, Doornbos, Eelco, Tourgaidis, Stelios, Aikio, Anita, Buchert, Stephan, Clilverd, Mark A., Dandouras, Iannis, Heelis, Roderick, Hoffmann, Alex, Ivchenko, Nickolay, Kervalishvili, Guram, Knudsen, David J., Kotova, Anna, Liu, Hanli, Malaspina, David M., March, Günther, Marchaudon, Aurélie, Marghitu, Octav, Matsuo, Tomoko, Miloch, Wojciech J., Moretto-Jørgensen, Therese, Mpaloukidis, Dimitris, Olsen, Nils, Papadakis, Konstantinos, Pfaff, Robert, Pirnaris, Panagiotis, Siemes, Christian, Stolle, Claudia, Suni, Jonas, van den IJssel, Jose, Verronen, Pekka T., Visser, Pieter, Yamauchi, Masatoshi. (2021). Lower-thermosphere-ionosphere (LTI) quantities: Current status of measuring techniques and models. UCAR/NCAR - Library. http://n2t.net/ark:/85065/d7sj1q0v. Accessed 27 June 2025.

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