Morning Overshoot of Electron Temperature as Observed by the Swarm Constellation and the International Space Station

The rapid increase of electron temperature in the early morning hours at low latitudes is a well‐known ionospheric phenomenon called morning overshoot. In this study, we extensively investigate the dependence of morning overshoot on local time, season, latitude/longitude/altitude, and magnetic activity. The electron temperature and density data set used in this study are obtained from (1) the Swarm constellation at two different altitudes of 470 and 520 km with identical payloads and (2) the Floating Potential Measurement Unit onboard International Space Station at an altitude of 400 km. Based on the data between 2014 and 2019, the main findings of this study are as follows: (1) on a global average, morning overshoot generally weakens with decreasing altitudes. (2) Morning overshoot is stronger around the dip equator than at midlatitude regions. As latitude increases, the overshoot decreases gradually and shifts to later local times. (3) In off‐equatorial regions the overshoot is stronger in the winter than in the summer hemisphere, especially at higher altitudes. (4) Lastly, the morning overshoot shows multiday oscillations, which are negatively correlated with plasma density and affected by geomagnetic activity. Key Points On a global average, morning overshoot becomes stronger with increasing altitudes Morning overshoot exhibits multiday oscillations negatively correlated with plasma density and affected by geomagnetic activity Latitude, longitude, and MLT dependence of morning overshoot cannot be fully explained by corresponding plasma density variations