Calculated and observed ionospheric parameters for a Magion 2 passage and EISCAT data on July 31, 1990

Ionospheric parameters, calculated by using a global numerically self‐consistent model of the thermosphere, ionosphere, and protonosphere (GSM TIP), are compared with experimental data. For July 31, 1990, there are ground‐based Common Programme 1 observations from the European Incoherent Scatter (EISCAT) radar station below about 600‐km height and simultaneous satellite data obtained onboard Magion 2 of the Active mission which passed near the EISCAT station around 1540 UT at an altitude of about 2500 km. The main goal of this paper is to estimate the ability of the first‐principles mathematical GSM TIP model to reproduce the real ionospheric situation in a wide altitude/latitude range. Numerical calculations were performed with the complete theoretical thermosphere‐ionosphere‐protonosphere model. The results presented show good agreement between the incoherent scatter radar measurements (Ne, Te, Ti, and ) and model calculations under certain model assumptions. Model runs were performed to study the influence of additional local and nonlocal heating sources, the role of vibrationally excited molecular nitrogen, and different convection patterns for the conditions under study. There is relatively good agreement between model results and experimental electron concentration data along the Magion 2 satellite orbit. It was found that the best fit results are achieved with an additional plasmaspheric heat source, while the importance of vibrationally excited molecular nitrogen has not yet been firmly established.