High-resolution electron density obtained by the enhanced plasma lines at EISCAT

A method of using plasma lines analysis to obtain the high-resolution electron density is presented in this paper. The enhanced plasma lines observed by European Incoherent Scatter Scientific Association (EISCAT) UHF radar at 14:00−14:09UT on October 31, 2015 are analyzed and discussed. First, by using curve fitting method, the enhanced plasma lines are extracted from the intensity profile. Then, the electron density is estimated by the enhanced plasma lines with linear Langmuir wave dispersion relation. By analyzing the standard error of enhanced plasma lines extraction and comparing to the electron density obtained from the traditional ion lines analysis, it is manifested that enhanced plasma lines are more promising for accurate ionospheric electron density estimation. Meanwhile, even with short integration periods, the plasma lines can derive electron density with high resolution.