Ionospheric Specification and Forecast Modeling

The ionosphere is a highly dynamic medium that exhibits weather disturbances at all latitudes, longitudes, and altitudes. Unfortunately, the weather disturbances can have adverse effects on numerous civilian and military systems/operations, and consequently, a major effort has been devoted to developing ionospheric specification and forecast models. Over the years, a wide range of models have been developed, including empirical, parameterized, numerical, tomographic, and physics-based data assimilation models. The status of the various modeling approaches is briefly reviewed. The review covers the philosophy underlying the approaches and the strengths and limitations of the approaches. In each case, a representative example is given to show the attributes of the approach. The review should be useful to practitioners who are affected by the ionosphere, and it should serve as a benchmark against which future progress can be measured.