Monitoring and modeling of ionospheric characteristics in the framework of European COST 296 Action MIERS

The Mitigation of Ionospheric Effects on Radio Systems COST 296 Action is devoted to the mitigation of ionospheric effects on radio systems. It creates a platform for sharing of data, algorithms, models, and jointly developed advanced technologies, the processing chain from measurements, through algorithms, to operational knowledge. This initiative creates a unique possibility for national groups to consolidate the design of a product required for their own activity and for European assessments in the ionosphere and telecommunication area. An important part of the action is to stimulate and integrate many national and international activities which provide tools for global and regional ionospheric monitoring and modeling. The work includes the near-Earth space plasma monitoring, modeling and forecasting, and a study of the upper atmosphere climate. Well-defined terms of reference include developing ground-based and space-borne monitoring techniques and parameters describing the state of ionospheric plasma, maintaining and extending the flow of real-time and retrospective ionospheric monitoring data to databases. To obtain adequate, high-quality information, special attention is paid to the data ingestion and assimilation in constructing ionospheric models of different spatial and time scale perturbations, as well as storms, small variations, and irregularities. The physical origin of atmospheric/ionospheric effects and their signatures and parameters are investigated. Identification criteria are studied and formulated.