Feasibility of developing an ionospheric E-region electron density storm model using TIMED/SABER measurements

We present a new technique for improving ionospheric models of nighttime E-region electron densities under geomagnetic storm conditions using TIMED/SABER measurements of broadband 4.3 μm limb radiance. The response of E-region electron densities to geomagnetic activity is characterized by SABER-derived NO+(v) 4.3 μm Volume Emission Rates (VER). A storm-time E-region electron density correction factor is defined as the ratio of storm-enhanced NO+(v) VER to a quiet-time climatological average NO+(v) VER, which will be fit to a geomagnetic activity index in a future work. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the feasibility of our technique in two ways. One, we compare storm-to-quiet ratios of SABER-derived NO+(v) VER with storm-to-quiet ratios of electron densities measured by Incoherent Scatter Radar. Two, we demonstrate that NO+(v) VER can be parameterized by widely available geomagnetic activity indices. The storm-time correction derived from NO+(v) VER is applicable at high-latitudes.