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Satellite Remote Sensing Techniques for Ionospheric and Thermospheric Observations

A special issue of Remote Sensing (ISSN 2072-4292). This special issue belongs to the section "Atmospheric Remote Sensing".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 August 2025 | Viewed by 305

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
School of Atmospheric Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China
Interests: ionospheric modeling; ionosphere and plasmasphere coupling; GNSS remote sensing; radio occultation; LEO satellites

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Guest Editor
Aerospace Information Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100094, China
Interests: ionospheric plasma irregularities and scintillation; ionospheric modeling; total electron content; multi-GNSS; precise point positioning

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Guest Editor
Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA
Interests: space weather; ionospheric physics; mesosphere and lower thermosphere
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

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Guest Editor
College of Astronautics, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing 211106, China
Interests: ionospheric physics; ionospheric weather; ionosphere and thermosphere coupling; ionospheric and thermospheric storms

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The ionosphere plays a crucial role in the propagation of radio waves, while the neutral thermosphere exerts an aerodynamic drag force on satellites. Monitoring both the ionosphere and thermosphere is essential for understanding their interactions and mitigating their impacts on various space instruments, especially in space weather events. To capture the spatial and temporal variations of the ionosphere and thermosphere, it is essential to monitor key parameters, such as ion/electron density and temperature, the density and height of the ionospheric F2 peak, total electron content (TEC), ionospheric plasma irregularities, and scintillation, as well as thermospheric neutral density, winds, and composition.

Satellite remote sensing techniques encompass a variety of methods, including multi-constellation and multi-frequency observations, the use of new signals in global navigation satellite systems (GNSS), radio occultation, space-based radio beacon and radar sounding, dual-frequency altimetry and GNSS reflectometry, optical imaging, and various other spaceborne instruments. Advancement of modern satellite remote sensing technologies enables unprecedented precision and detail in observing the ionosphere and thermosphere. The primary challenge lies in harnessing the full potential that these modern satellite remote sensing techniques can offer.

In this Special Issue, we aim to introduce and develop new satellite remote sensing techniques to observe and model the ionosphere-thermosphere system. We also seek to improve the retrieval of ionospheric and thermospheric parameters, as well as deepen our understanding of ionospheric and thermospheric physics through the application of these satellite remote sensing techniques and new models.

We encourage contributions to topics including, but not limited to, the following:

  • Development ofnew instruments and missions for observing the ionosphere and thermosphere;
  • Accurate retrieval of ionospheric and thermospheric parameters using satellite remote sensing techniques;
  • Advancements in ionospheric and thermospheric modeling and forecasting through novel analyses and methods;
  • Exploration of ionospheric and thermospheric variations with satellite remote sensing techniques;
  • Assessment of the impact of ionospheric and thermospheric variations on satellite remote sensing applications.

Original research articles, technical notes, and review papers are welcome.

Dr. Jiahao Zhong
Dr. Ningbo Wang
Dr. Xuguang Cai
Dr. Jiawei Kuai
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Remote Sensing is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • ionosphere
  • thermosphere
  • satellite
  • GNSS
  • radio occultation
  • radio waves
  • radar sounding
  • optical imaging
  • ionospheric/thermospheric modeling
  • space weather

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

19 pages, 4898 KiB  
Article
Near-Real-Time Global Thermospheric Density Variations Unveiled by Starlink Ephemeris
by Zhuoliang Ou, Jiahao Zhong, Yongqiang Hao, Ruoxi Li, Xin Wan, Kang Wang, Jiawen Chen, Hao Han, Xingyan Song, Wenyu Du and Yanyan Tang
Remote Sens. 2025, 17(9), 1549; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs17091549 - 27 Apr 2025
Viewed by 154
Abstract
Previous efforts to retrieve thermospheric density using satellite payloads have been limited to a small number of satellites equipped with GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) receivers and accelerometers. These satellites are confined to a few orbital planes, and analysis can only be conducted [...] Read more.
Previous efforts to retrieve thermospheric density using satellite payloads have been limited to a small number of satellites equipped with GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) receivers and accelerometers. These satellites are confined to a few orbital planes, and analysis can only be conducted after the data are processed and updated, resulting in sparse and delayed thermospheric density datasets. In recent years, the Starlink constellation, developed and deployed by SpaceX, has emerged as the world’s largest low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite constellation, with over 6000 satellites in operations as of October 2024. Through the strategic use of multiple orbital shells featuring various inclinations and altitudes, Starlink ensures continuous near-global coverage. Due to extensive coverage and frequent maneuvers, SpaceX has publicly released predicted ephemeris data for all Starlink satellites since May 2021, with updates approximately every 8 h. With the ephemeris data of Starlink satellites, we first apply a maneuver detection algorithm based on mean orbital elements to analyze their maneuvering behavior. The results indicate that Starlink satellites exhibit more frequent maneuvers during thermospheric disturbances. Then, we calculate the mechanical energy loss caused by non-conservative forces (primarily atmospheric drag) through precise dynamical models. The results demonstrate that, despite certain limitations in Starlink ephemeris data, the calculated mechanical energy loss still effectively captures thermospheric density variations during both quiet and disturbed geomagnetic periods. This finding is supported by comparisons with Swarm-B data, revealing that SpaceX incorporates the latest space environment conditions into its orbit extrapolation models during each ephemeris update. With a maximum lag of only 8 h, this approach enables near-real-time monitoring of thermospheric density variations using Starlink ephemeris. Full article
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