The IPIR dataset is now available through the ESA Swarm data access:

They can be downloaded:

via any HTTP browser at http://swarm-diss.eo.esa.int

directly via an ftp client at ftp://swarm-diss.eo.esa.int

Then go to Level2daily -> Latest_baselines -> IPD -> IRR

This is the website for the Swarm IPIR project.

Swarm DISC - IPIR: Ionospheric Plasma IRregularities characterised by the Swarm satellites In project IPIR: Ionospheric Plasma IRregularities characterised by the Swarm satellites we develop a high-level global product, which characterises ionospheric irregularities and fluctuations based on the Swarm satellite data.

IPIR - Ionospheric Plasma IRregularities characterised by the Swarm satellites is a project funded through the Swarm DISC - Data, Innovation and Science Cluster, which is a consortium of expert partners with a project office at DTU Space supporting the exploitation of the Swarm mission. Swarm DISC is funded by the European Space Agency, through ESA contract 4000109587/13/I-NB, as part of the Agency’s Earth Observation Envelope Programme (EOEP)

About the project

Ionospheric plasma is often characterised by irregularities and fluctuations in its density. They are the result of various plasma instabilities, reflecting complex interactions in the near-Earth space environment. Plasma density irregularities and fluctuations can influence the propagation of trans-ionospheric radio waves and are of importance for ground based operations that rely on precise positioning with Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS). Understanding ionospheric plasma irregularities and fluctuations is thus of both scientific and practical interest.

Through the IPIR project we develop a high-level, global product based on Swarm measurements that will characterise ionospheric irregularities and fluctuations, and address the needs of scientific community and operational users. The product will provide characteristics of plasma density structures in the ionosphere and will assign them to predominant plasma processes and regions in the ionosphere. This result will open possibilities for extensive, global studies of plasma irregularities and fluctuations. IPIR will also provide indication, in the form of a numerical value index, on their severity of the plasma fluctuations for the integrity of trans-ionospheric radio signals and hence the accuracy of GNSS precise positioning.

The IPIR data is in cdf format, and they are zipped together with the Header files. The data can be downloaded from here. The extended IPIR data during January 1 - July 15, 2014 can be accessed from here.

The xml dissemination files can be found here.

The available documents can be found here.