Layered conductance in the ionosphere estimated using data from a multiwavelength photometer at the European Incoherent Scatter radar site

Abstract

This study aimed to develop a methodology for estimating ionospheric conductance at auroral latitudes using data from a multi-wavelength photometer (427.8, 557.7, and 630.0 nm). An advantage of the approach is that the ionosphere is divided into layers and conductance is computed for each layer. From optical data, the layer conductance was determined by using height-resolved conductivity derived from the European Incoherent Scatter (EISCAT) Tromso UHF radar. The developed method can provide conductance from optical data with some confidence (at least at the same level as previous methods) even after separating the ionosphere into three layers, 95-110 km, 110-170 km, and 170-300 km.