Heliophysics

Ionospheric Connection Explorer (ICON)

Remote Sensing Observatory · Competed · PI-led · Launched on October 11, 2019 · Completed · LCC: $253M/$340M (2025 $)Life-cycle cost: NASA’s reported cost to build, launch, and operate a mission through its prime mission, plus documented partner contributions, in 2025 dollars. Extended missions are not included. Methods · Wikipedia

Scope Active Mission WindowActivePapers published from the first full month after science operations begin through two years after the mission ends. Citations are counted through the third calendar year after each paper appears. For ICON, papers published January 1, 2020 to January 1, 2024. Methods LifetimeLifetimeEvery tracked publication to date, with every citation to date. For ICON, papers published from 2020 to November 3, 2026. Methods
Tracked publicationsTracked publications: peer-reviewed papers we found that name the mission or its instruments in their titles, abstracts, or keywords. Papers that used the data without naming it are missed. Methods214
CitationsCitations: every citation these publications have drawn to date. Older missions have had longer to collect them. Methods2,332
Citation indices
h-indexh-index: the largest h such that h papers have at least h citations each. It only grows with time, so older missions score higher. Methods26
g-indexg-index: the largest g for which the g most-cited papers together hold at least g² citations. Like the h-index, but it lets the most-cited papers count for more. Methods37
m-indexm-index: a mission’s h-index divided by the years since its first peer-reviewed paper. It falls every 1 January even when nothing else changes; the figure shown is as of November 3, 2026. It also discounts the long operating life that larger missions paid for. Methods3.7
toritori (total research impact, from SciX): for every paper citing one of the mission’s papers, 1 divided by the citing paper’s reference count times the cited paper’s author count, summed, with self-citations removed. It favors citations from papers with short reference lists and from outside the mission’s own authors. Computed over the tracked citation graph, which can be slightly incomplete. Always over every tracked publication to date, whichever scope is chosen. Methods10
riqriq (research impact quotient): 1,000 times the square root of tori, divided by the years since the mission’s first paper. A rate, not a total, so it does not keep growing with age the way the h-index and tori do. Like tori, always over every tracked publication to date. Methods454

Publications and citations by year (lifetime)

Publications per yearCumulative citations

Institutional contributions (lifetime)The institutions SciX lists for each paper’s authors, as printed on the paper, located through the Research Organization Registry. A square counts a paper once, however many of its authors worked there. Methods

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Tracked publications over the lifetime (214)

All publications CSV · JSON

  1. Impacts of the January 2022 Tonga Volcanic Eruption on the Ionospheric Dynamo: ICON-MIGHTI and Swarm Observations of Extreme Neutral Winds and Currents

    Harding, Brian J., 2022, GeoRL

    87 lifetime citations

  2. Examining the Wind Shear Theory of Sporadic E With ICON/MIGHTI Winds and COSMIC-2 Radio 2 Occultation Data

    Yamazaki, Y., 2022, GeoRL

    72 lifetime citations

  3. Pronounced Suppression and X-Pattern Merging of Equatorial Ionization Anomalies After the 2022 Tonga Volcano Eruption

    Aa, Ercha, 2022, JGRA

    68 lifetime citations

  4. Significant Ionospheric Hole and Equatorial Plasma Bubbles After the 2022 Tonga Volcano Eruption

    Aa, Ercha, 2022, SpWea

    66 lifetime citations

  5. Validation of ICON MIGHTI Thermospheric Wind Observations: 2. Green Line Comparisons to Specular Meteor Radars

    Harding, Brian J., 2021, JGRA

    64 lifetime citations

  6. Regulation of ionospheric plasma velocities by thermospheric winds

    Immel, Thomas J., 2021, NatGe

    55 lifetime citations

  7. Validation of ICON MIGHTI Thermospheric Wind Observations: 1. Nighttime Red Line Ground Based Fabry Perot Interferometers

    Makela, Jonathan J., 2021, JGRA

    54 lifetime citations

  8. Significant Mid- and Low-Latitude Ionospheric Disturbances Characterized by Dynamic EIA, EPBs, and SED Variations During the 13-14 March 2022 Geomagnetic Storm

    Aa, Ercha, 2023, JGRA

    53 lifetime citations

  9. Day-to-Day Variability of the Semidiurnal Tide in the F-Region Ionosphere During the January 2021 SSW From COSMIC-2 and ICON

    Oberheide, J., 2022, GeoRL

    50 lifetime citations

  10. Sensitivity study for ICON tidal analysis

    Cullens, Chihoko Y., 2020, PEPS

    49 lifetime citations

  11. Primary and Secondary Gravity Waves and Large-Scale Wind Changes Generated by the Tonga Volcanic Eruption on 15 January 2022: Modeling and Comparison With ICON-MIGHTI Winds

    Vadas, Sharon L., 2023, JGRA

    45 lifetime citations

  12. Michelson Interferometer for Global High-Resolution Thermospheric Imaging (MIGHTI) On-Orbit Wind Observations: Data Analysis and Instrument Performance

    Englert, Christoph R., 2023, SSRv

    41 lifetime citations

  13. The Thermospheric Column O/N₂ Ratio

    Meier, R. R., 2021, JGRA

    39 lifetime citations

  14. Monthly Climatologies of Zonal-Mean and Tidal Winds in the Thermosphere as Observed by ICON/MIGHTI During April 2020-March 2022

    Yamazaki, Y., 2023, E&SS

    39 lifetime citations

  15. Neutral Wind Profiles During Periods of Eastward and Westward Equatorial Electrojet

    Yamazaki, Y., 2021, GeoRL

    38 lifetime citations

  16. Vertical Coupling by Solar Semidiurnal Tides in the Thermosphere From ICON/MIGHTI Measurements

    Forbes, Jeffrey M., 2022, JGRA

    38 lifetime citations

  17. Intense Equatorial Electrojet and Counter Electrojet Caused by the 15 January 2022 Tonga Volcanic Eruption: Space- and Ground-Based Observations

    Le, Guan, 2022, GeoRL

    32 lifetime citations

  18. Thermospheric Responses to the 3 and 4 November 2021 Geomagnetic Storm During the Main and Recovery Phases as Observed by NASA's GOLD and ICON Missions

    Gan, Quan, 2024, GeoRL

    30 lifetime citations

  19. Unexpected High Occurrence of Daytime F-Region Backscatter Plume Structures Over Low Latitude Sanya and Their Possible Origin

    Xie, Haiyong, 2020, GeoRL

    29 lifetime citations

  20. Comparison of ICON/MIGHTI and TIMED/TIDI Neutral Wind Measurements in the Lower Thermosphere

    Dhadly, Manbharat S., 2021, JGRA

    29 lifetime citations

How we found these papers

We searched NASA’s Science Explorer (SciX) for peer-reviewed articles naming ICON in the title, abstract or keywords; standard filters drop articles that are not peer-reviewed and magazine pieces.

(((=abs:"Ionospheric Connection Explorer" OR =abs:"Ionospheric Connections Explorer" OR =abs:"ICON mission" OR =abs:"ICON satellite" OR =abs:"NASA ICON" OR (abs:MIGHTI AND abs:(wind OR winds OR temperature OR thermosphere OR ICON)) OR (abs:ICON AND abs:(ionosphere OR ionospheric OR thermosphere OR IVM))) NOT (abs:("UA-ICON" OR "ICON-ART" OR "ICON-ESM" OR "ICON-LEM" OR "ICON-NWP" OR "ICON-Sapphire" OR "ICON general circulation model" OR icosahedral) AND abs:(model OR models OR simulation OR simulations)))) AND property:refereed AND doctype:article AND pubdate:[2020-01 TO 2040-01] AND NOT bibstem:("A&R" OR "ACPD" OR "AIASJ" OR "AMTD" OR "AeAm" OR "AirSp" OR "AsNow" OR "AsUAI" OR "AvWST" OR "BGD" OR "C&E" OR "C&T" OR "CAPJ" OR "CliPD" OR "E&S" OR "ENews" OR "ESDD" OR "ESSDD" OR "ESuDD" OR "GID" OR "GMDD" OR "GeCAS" OR "HESSD" OR "IrAJ" OR "JCos" OR "JRASC" OR "LAstr" OR "MNSSA" OR "Met" OR "NHESD" OR "NPGD" OR "NewSc" OR "OcScD" OR "Orion" OR "PhT" OR "PhTea" OR "PhuZ" OR "PhyOJ" OR "PhyW" OR "PlR" OR "SOILD" OR "SciAm" OR "SpFl" OR "TCD" OR "ZemVs")

Open in SciX

Removed after review (16)

  1. Laboratory demonstration of mini-MIGHTI: A prototype sensor for thermospheric red-line (630 nm) neutral wind measurements from a 6U CubeSat Describes a CubeSat prototype sensor built from a MIGHTI flight spare; uses no ICON data. Decision 🤖
  2. 2021ACP....2113855S Uses the UA-ICON weather model, not the ICON spacecraft. Decision 🤖
  3. 2023ApOpt..62.4288H Optics theory paper; does not name ICON in its title or abstract. Decision 🤖
  4. 2023FrASS...998083H Review of equatorial spread F; does not name ICON in its title or abstract. Decision 🤖
  5. 2023GeoRL..5001215G GOLD study; does not name ICON in its title or abstract. Decision 🤖
  6. 2023GeoRL..5005470H Plasmasphere modelling study; does not name ICON in its title or abstract. Decision 🤖
  7. Correction to: Michelson Interferometer for Global High-Resolution Thermospheric Imaging (MIGHTI) On-Orbit Wind Observations: Data Analysis and Instrument Performance Publisher correction notice; not a research paper. Decision 🤖
  8. 2024FrASS..1172642H Review of plasma bubbles; does not name ICON in its title or abstract. Decision 🤖
  9. 2025GMD....18.3359K Describes the UA-ICON weather model, not the ICON spacecraft. Decision 🤖
  10. 2025JGRD..13043550K Uses the UA-ICON weather model, not the ICON spacecraft. Decision 🤖
  11. 2025JSWSC..15...38S Ground airglow imager study; does not name ICON in its title or abstract. Decision 🤖
  12. 2025SGeo..tmp...68M Review of ionospheric irregularities; does not name ICON in its title or abstract. Decision 🤖
  13. Preface on the Special Issue "International Reference Ionosphere: Improvement and Evaluation of a Global Standard" Editorial preface to a journal special issue; not a research paper. Decision 🤖
  14. 2026ComEE...7..161W Uses the UA-ICON weather model, not the ICON spacecraft. Decision 🤖
  15. 2026JGRD..13144923K Uses the UA-ICON weather model, not the ICON spacecraft. Decision 🤖
  16. Impact of Non-Classical Gravity-Wave Dynamics on Middle-Atmosphere Mean Flow and Solar Tides Uses the ICON weather and climate model, not the ICON spacecraft. Decision 🤖