Carlos Molina

By Adriano Camps, Carlos Molina, Guillermo González-Casado, José Miguel Juan, Joël Lemorton, Vincent Fabbro, Aymeric Mainvis, José Barbosa and Raúl Orús-Pérez

Existing climatological ionosphere models, for example, GISM, SCIONAV, WBMOD, and STIPEE, have known limitations that prevent their wide use. In the framework of ESA study “Radio Climatology Models of the Ionosphere: Status and Way Forward” their performance was assessed using experimental observations of ionospheric scintillation collected over the past years to evaluate their ability to properly support future missions, and eventually indicate their weaknesses for future improvements. Model limitations are more important in terms of the intensity scintillation parameter (S₄). To improve them, the COSMIC model has been fit (scaling factor and offset) to the measured data, and it became the one better predicting the intensity scintillation in a statistical sense.

Part of the book: Ionosphere

By Badr-Eddine Boudriki Semlali, Carlos Molina, Mireia Carvajal Librado, Hyuk Park and Adriano Camps

At present, there is no clear scientific evidence of reliable earthquake precursors that can be used as an early warning system. However, many studies have also reported the existence of faint signatures that appear to be coupled to the occurrence of earthquakes. These anomalies have traditionally been detected using data from in-situ sensors near high-seismicity regions. On the other hand, remote sensors offer the potential of large spatial coverage and frequent revisit time, allowing the observation of remote areas such as deserts, mountains, polar caps, or the ocean. This chapter revises the state-of-the-art of the understanding of lithosphere–atmosphere–ionosphere coupling. It also presents recent studies by the authors’ ongoing investigation on short-to-midterm earthquake precursors. The Earth observation variables discussed are (1) surface temperature anomalies from thermal infrared or microwave radiometer measurements, (2) atmospheric signatures, (3) ionospheric total electron density fluctuations or scintillation measured from GNSS signals, and (4) other geophysical variables, including geomagnetic field fluctuations, changes in the Schumann resonance frequency, or low-frequency electromagnetic radiation. However, despite the seismic hazard risk models that exist and the results shown by these studies, it is still very difficult to predict the occurrence of earthquakes.

Part of the book: New Insights on Disaster Risk Reduction [Working title]