ISIS-1 Topside Ionogram Data from Ottawa, 29-Second Resolution

NASA's ISIS-1 satellite topside sounder data provides ionospheric electron density profiles. The dataset consists of digitized average ionograms from the Ottawa station, sampled at 40 kHz with a typical time resolution of 29 seconds. This version 2 data product corrects frame-sync detection issues from earlier versions to enable automated processing.

Use Cases

• Modeling ionospheric electron density (Ne(h)) profiles based on the swept and fixed frequency ionogram data.
• Studying plasma resonances and wave phenomena like the Upper Hybrid Noise Band mentioned in the platform tags.
• Analyzing latitudinal and longitudinal variations in the topside ionosphere as part of the project's stated goal.
• Comparing ionospheric conditions from different telemetry stations (Ottawa, Quito, Fairbanks) using the enhanced database.

Strengths

• Sampling rate of 40,000 16-bit samples per second exceeds the Nyquist frequency of 30 kHz.
• Data restoration project led by a NASA GSFC scientist (Dr. R.F. Benson) provides authoritative provenance.
• Version 2 correction of frame-sync detection allows for automated processing with software like TOPIST.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count and total dataset size are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data may reflect geographic bias inherent to the specific Ottawa station location.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Collection Method

Digitized from original ISIS 1 Analog Telemetry Data on 7-Track Tape at NASA GSFC's Data Evaluation Laboratory.

Time Range

The description does not specify a temporal coverage range.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 06:12:30.865502; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Data from the midlatitude Ottawa, QC, Canada station (Latitude 45°, Longitude 284°).