NOAA WAM-IPE: Ionosphere and Thermosphere Forecasts and Nowcasts

The NOAA Whole Atmosphere Model-Ionosphere Plasmasphere Electrodynamics (WAM-IPE) Forecast System provides real-time nowcasts and two-day forecasts of ionosphere and thermosphere conditions. It is developed and maintained by the NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center, coupling a neutral atmosphere model with a plasma model from 90 km to 10,000 km altitude. Forecasts are produced four times daily, and nowcasts ingest solar wind data every 5 minutes.

Use Cases

• Forecasting ionospheric disturbances for satellite communication and navigation systems based on the model's two-day forecast outputs.
• Analyzing thermosphere neutral density variations based on the 3-dimensional gridded data provided every 10 minutes.
• Studying the coupling between the neutral atmosphere and plasma based on the described integration of WAM and IPE model fields.
• Nowcasting rapid changes during geomagnetic storms based on the real-time system ingesting solar wind parameters every 5 minutes.

Strengths

• Provides forecasts up to two days in advance, updated four times daily.
• Real-time nowcast system reinitializes every six hours and ingests solar wind data every 5 minutes.
• Model covers a wide altitude range from approximately 90 km to 10,000 km.

Limitations

• Data is provided on a non-operational basis with no guarantee of timely delivery or availability; temporal gaps may exist.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Last update date is unknown; freshness unverified.

Provenance

Source

NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC).

Collection Method

Output from the operational coupled Whole Atmosphere Model-Ionosphere Plasmasphere Electrodynamics (WAM-IPE) forecast and nowcast systems.

Time Range

Current nowcasts and two-day forecasts.

Freshness

Forecasts are updated four times daily (00, 06, 12, 18 UT); nowcasts are reinitialized every six hours.

Geography

Global coverage.