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The IRAP Plasmasphere Ionosphere Model (IPIM) is an ionospheric model which describes the transport equations of ionospheric plasma species along magnetic closed field lines. The development of a new operational version of IPIM as part of the EUHFORIA project to monitor and forecast space weather conditions and hazards includes using in-situ solar wind observations from the OMNI data set, ionospheric radar data of plasma motions from the Super Dual Auroral Radar Network (SuperDARN), and precipitation data from the Ovation model, as inputs to the model. A new conductivity module has also been developed for help in the simulation of geomagnetically induced currents based on a simplified version of IPIM. This model uses the photochemical module of IPIM in place of the fluid module and the full kinetic module, so that inter-hemispheric transport of suprathermal electrons is accounted for in the ion production term. As the main contribution to the conductivities comes from the lower ionosphere (typically below 150km) where the chemistry dominates, neglecting the field-aligned transport contribution in the fluid module does not alter significantly the conductivities. Based on the conductivities, the neutral wind and the electric field, ionospheric horizontal currents are computed. The ionospheric currents are used as an input for the Biot and Savart module to compute the resulting magnetic perturbations at the ground. We present the first results from this version which explores the ionosphere's response to different conditions in different regions in mid and high latitudes.

The IRAP Plasmasphere Ionosphere Model (IPIM) describes the transport equations ofionospheric plasma species along magnetic closed field lines. As input, the previous iterationof IPIM used basic models to provide estimations of the solar wind conditions, convection,and precipitation within the ionosphere. In this presentation, we discuss the development ofa new operational version of IPIM as part of the EUHFORIA project to monitor and forecastspace weather conditions and hazards. The developments of the model include using in-situsolar wind observations from the OMNI data set, ionospheric radar data of plasma motionsfrom the Super Dual Auroral Radar Network (SuperDARN), and precipitation data from theOvation model, as inputs to the model. We present the first results from the latest IPIMversion, focussing on case study coronal mass ejections on 14th December 2006 and 14thJuly 2012 which featured clear magnetic clouds and long-lasting southward magnetic field.For these events, we explore simulations of plasma densities, temperature, and motions,and compare with observations from EISCAT ionospheric radars and ionosonde launches.With these results in mind, we will discuss the skill of using IPIM as a space weatherforecasting and analysis tool.

The IRAP Plasmasphere Ionosphere Model (IPIM) is an ionospheric model which describes the transport equations of ionospheric plasma species along magnetic closed field lines. The previous iteration of IPIM used some basic models to provide estimations of the solar wind conditions and associated motions of plasma and precipitation within the ionosphere as input. In this presentation, we discuss developments to IPIM as part of the EUHFORIA project, to consistently observe space weather conditions from the Sun to the Earth’s surface. The developments of the model include using in-situ solar wind observations from the OMNI data set, ionospheric radar data of plasma motions from the Super Dual Auroral Radar Network (SuperDARN), and the Ovation model of auroral precipitation, as inputs to the model. We compare the new version with the former version and ionospheric observations to explore the differences observed by including these data within the model. We present some new results using this new version of the model to explore the ionosphere’s response to solar wind transient events such as high-speed streams and coronal mass ejections.