AAS 97-632
NAVAL RESEARCH LABORATORY PROGRAM ON EMPIRICAL MODELS OF THE THERMOSPHERE
J.M. Picone, A.E. Hedin, S. Coffey, J. Lean, D. Drob, H. Neal, D. Melendez-Alvira, R. Meier, and J. Mariska - Naval Research Laboratory
Abstract
The Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) has embarked on an exploratory development program to acquire and upgrade empirical models of the neutral upper atmosphere or "thermosphere", as developed originally by Dr. A. E. Hedin, now retired from NASA. The Mass Spectrometer - Incoherent Scatter Radar (MSIS) model of composition and temperature combines satellite, rocket, and ground-based radar measurements made primarily during the period 1965 - 83. Future operational and experimental satellite systems will provide a tidal wave of data for improving MSIS; we are now ingesting existing data sets, including those of Jacchia. Products also include a new full disk proxy for the solar driver of thermospheric variability. The key to the program is the NRL system to test neutral density models for orbital tracking and prediction.