OBJECTIVES AND VISION OF THE ITMP BRANCH

The aim of ITMP branch is to investigate the terrestrial upper atmosphere in context of its energetics/dynamics vis-à-vis the vertical and lateral coupling this region has with the magnetosphere above and mesosphere below it; and make use of these studies to provide better input for technological applications wherever possible. It also aims at extending these studies to other solar system bodies as well.

The three major thrust areas of our activities:

1.Ground based and space based observational investigations of the ionosphere-thermosphere system

• Research on equatorial and low latitude ionospheric phenomena like Equatorial Electrojet, Equatorial Ionisation Anomaly and Equatorial Spread F
• Research pertaining to polar ionospheres

2. Design and Development of scientific payloads/instruments for terrestrial and space missions

• Electron Density and Neutral wind (ENWi) probe
• Langmuir probe for terrestrial ionospheric electron density and irregularities
• Optical instruments for airglow emissions
• RAMBHA payload package for lunar ionospheric exploration

3. Ionospheric modelling

• Ionospheric TEC model
• Quasi two-Dimensional chemical model