Empirical Modeling of the Total Electron Content of the Ionosphere

With the appearance of such satellite systems as GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, and others, the total electron content TEC measured by means of navigational satellites became a key parameter characterizing a state of the ionized space. In turn, functioning of navigational and telecommunication systems needs models of TEC for an estimation of accuracy of positioning, for the short-term and long-term prediction of this parameter. In this Chapter, empirical models of the total electron content are presented. The new result is their comparison. It is shown that the majority of them provide an adequate accuracy and reliability. As the basic application of TEC measurements, the problem of determination of maximum concentration NmF2 of the ionosphere with use of its equivalent slab thickness τ is considered. It is shown that existing models of τ are not global and do not provide sufficient accuracy in determining NmF2. An approach for new global model is offered