Data Assimilation of Thermosphere Neutral Densities in WAM

The thermosphere neutral density during the November 2003 storm has been simulated by Whole Atmosphere Model (WAM). The Iterative Driver Estimation and Assimilation (IDEA) data assimilation ingests the thermosphere neutral density measurements from Challenging Mini-Satellite Payload (CHAMP) satellite, which is further employed to quantify the uncertainties of measurements from the Global Ultraviolet Imager (GUVI) on board the Thermosphere Ionosphere Mesosphere Energy and Dynamics (TIMED) satellite in various locations and altitudes during the November 2003 storm. A possible real-time data source is available from an instrument similar to the TIMED-GUVI observations. This study is designed to evaluate the usefulness of this data-stream in the IDEA data assimilation scheme to improve the WAM thermosphere neutral density.