New understanding achieved from 2 years of Chinese ionospheric investigations

In the mainland of China, the number of ionospheric research groups is more than 10. Around 110 articles related to ionospheric physics have been published during 2014–2015. In this annual national report of the Committee on Space Research(COSPAR), we will outline some recent progresses in ionospheric studies conducted by the Chinese mainland scientists in the past 2 years. These investigations cover(1) the ionosphere responses to geomagnetic activities;(2) ionospheric climatology and structures;(3) couplings between the ionosphere, plasmasphere and lower atmosphere, and possible seismic signatures in the ionosphere;(4) ionospheric irregularities and scintillation;(5) ionospheric models, data assimilation and simulations;(6) ionospheric dynamics and electrodynamics;(7) progresses in the observation methodology and technique; and(8) planetary ionospheres. Such investigations will strengthen our ability to monitor the ionosphere,provide a better understanding of the ionospheric states and the underlying fundamental processes, and improve the ionospheric modeling, forecasting, and related applications.