The Data Comparison of Electron Density Between CSES and DEMETER Satellite, Swarm Constellation and IRI Model

Abstract

Abstract The China Seismo‐Electromagnetic Satellite (CSES), which is also called ZhangHeng‐1 (ZH‐1), was successfully launched on February 2, 2018. Evaluating the quality of observation data is imperative for the satellite mission and users. Through the comparative analysis of electron density between CSES and DEMETER satellite, Swarm constellation and international reference ionosphere (IRI) model from May 8, 2018 to December 31, 2019, it was found that the patterns of electron density for CSES are similar with those of other observations and model outputs, such as the maxima and minima nearly locating in the same place, having the ionospheric phenomena of wave number 3/4, electron density enhancements at mid‐latitude, and Weddell Sea Anomaly (WSA). The correlation coefficients are higher in the Southern Hemisphere, especially in the region of WSA. The correlation between CSES and IRI model is also better around the equatorial ionization anomaly crests during the daytime, while the correlation coefficients are low around the magnetic equator for the Ne single peak detected by CSES. Comparing the observation data in orbit during the same time, the correlation coefficients between CSES and Swarm constellation all exceed 0.75, the curves of nearby orbits exhibiting the consistent peaks or troughs around the roughly same latitudes. Nevertheless, there are systematic biases in the values between the electron density data of CSES and other observations/models, 1–2 times and over two times lower than IRI model during the nighttime and daytime, respectively. The electron density values of Swarm constellation are 3–6 times greater than those of CSES according to the data statistics of nearby orbits. We considered that both hardware design and data processing may potentially have effects on the Ne systematic biases between the CSES and other observations. Through the comparative analysis, it is concluded that the electron density observed by CSES can exhibit the ionospheric characteristics at the altitude of 507 km, and the data can be applied to the ionospheric phenomena study.