Balloon measurements of the vertical ionization profile over southern Israel and comparison to mid-latitude observations

Yaniv, R., Yair, Y., Price, C., Nicoll, K. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5580-6325, Harrison, G. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0693-347X, Artamonov, A. and Usoskin, I. (2016) Balloon measurements of the vertical ionization profile over southern Israel and comparison to mid-latitude observations. Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics, 149. pp. 87-92. ISSN 1364-6826 doi: 10.1016/j.jastp.2016.10.003

Abstract/Summary

Airborne measurements using meteorological balloons were conducted for the first time from southern Israel (geographic 30°35’N, 34°45’E geomagnetic 27°6’N 112°23’E) for measuring the vertical ionization profile during solar cycle 24. The results show the differences (increase of ~30%) in count rates as we proceed from solar maximum toward solar minimum. The observed altitude of maximum ionization (the Regener-Pfotzer maximum) was between 17–20 km, and it agrees well with results from other simultaneous measurements conducted at different latitudes (Reading, UK and Zaragoza-Barcelona, Spain). When compared with predictions of an analytical model, we find a highly significant correlation (R2=0.97) between our observations and the computed ionization profiles. The difference in count rates can be attributed to the height of the tropopause due to the model using a US standard atmosphere that differs from the measured atmospheric parameters above Israel.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/67777
Identification Number/DOI	10.1016/j.jastp.2016.10.003
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Science > School of Mathematical, Physical and Computational Sciences > Department of Meteorology
Publisher	Elsevier
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