Impact of electron density values from space-geodetic observation techniques on thermospheric density models

The neutral density in the thermosphere is directly related to the atmospheric drag acceleration acting on satellites. In fact, the atmospheric drag acceleration, is the largest non-gravitational perturbation for satellites below 1000 km that has to be considered for precise orbit determination. There are several global empirical and physical models providing the neutral density in the thermosphere. However, there are significant differences between the modeled neutral densities and densities observed via accelerometers. More precise thermospheric density models are required for improving drag modeling as well as orbit determination. We study the coupling between ionosphere and thermosphere based on observations and model outputs of the Thermosphere Ionosphere Electrodynamics General Circulation Model (TIE-GCM). At first, we analyse the model’s representation of the coupling using electron and neutral densities. In comparison, we study the coupling based on observations, i.e., accelerometer-derived neutral densities and electron densities from a 4D electron density model based on GNSS and satellite altimetry data as well as radio occultation measurements. We expect that increased electron densities can be related to increased neutral densities. This is indicated for example by a correlation of approximately 55% between the neutral densities and the electron densities computed by the TIE-GCM. Finally, we investigate whether neutral density simulations fit better to in-situ densities from accelerometry when electron densities are assimilated.