Multi-scale ionosphere model with data-adapted spatial resolution

Space weather research and a wide range of applications in communication and navigation require high-resolution ionosphere models. Today, the global ionosphere maps (GIMs) provided by the International GNSS Service (IGS) are the widely-used global vertical total electron content (VTEC) products. However, their spatial resolution of 2.5° in latitude and 5° in longitude is not high enough for modeling small-scale structures of the ionosphere. Therefore, besides the GIMs some regional high-resolution ionosphere models were developed. The German Aerospace Center (DLR), for instance, provides a regional VTEC model over Europe with a spatial resolution of 2° in both latitude and longitude.