## 4 Results
### Topside Effective Scale Height from Non-Calibrated In Situ N\({}_{e}\) Observations  
In Section 4.1, we showed \(H_{0}\) values obtained by using CSES--01 and Swarm B \(N_{\rm e}\) values calibrated according to [34]. For comparison, in this section, we show corresponding results obtained with original (i.e., non-calibrated) CSES--01 and Swarm B \(N_{\rm e}\) values.  
Figure 6 shows geographical maps of median \(H_{0}\) values obtained with non-calibrated CSES--01 and Swarm B \(N_{\rm e}\) values for the daytime sector. COSMIC--1 values are the same as those used in Figure 4. By using non-calibrated \(N_{\rm e}\) values, the CSES--01 \(H_{0}\) values are much lower than those of Figure 4, ranging between 0 and 20 km. Such \(H_{0}\) values are very low when compared to corresponding values found by other authors by using different methodologies and datasets [21; 22; 23; 24; 26; 51; 53]. \(H_{0}\) values ranging between 0 and 20 km would cause a decrease in electron density in the topside ionosphere at a much faster rate than is usually observed. This is an independent piece of evidence that demonstrates the importance of calibrating CSES--01 \(N_{\rm e}\) values in order to reliably reproduce the topside ionosphere profile shape. On the other hand, \(H_{0}\) values from non-calibrated Swarm B \(N_{\rm e}\) values are very similar to those obtained with calibrated values. This is not surprising, given that the calibration has only a minor effect on Swarm B during the daytime, as highlighted in Section 2.2 and by the authors of [34].  
Figure 7 shows geographical maps of median \(H_{0}\) values obtained with non-calibrated CSES--01 and Swarm B \(N_{\rm e}\) values for the nighttime sector. As expected, \(H_{0}\) values from non-calibrated CSES--01 \(N_{\rm e}\) values show values much lower than those of Figure 5, according to the original \(N_{\rm e}\) underestimation by CSES--01. Instead, \(H_{0}\) values from non-calibrated Swarm B \(N_{\rm e}\) values show a remarkable general increase. This increase is so high that, in many bins, it was not possible to calculate \(H_{0}\) because Swarm B \(N_{\rm e}\) values were higher than \(NmF2\) values modeled by IRI; this fact is well-highlighted by the blank bins in the NDJ months. This is due to the Swarm B \(N_{\rm e}\) overestimation during nighttime and low solar activity conditions evidenced by the authors of [34; 38; 40]. Without any correction, original Swarm B \(N_{\rm e}\) values recorded in these specific conditions would produce an excessive and non-physical topside effective scale height.  
Figure 5: Geographical representation of median values of \(H_{0}\) for the nighttime sector (\(\sim\)02:00 LT). First row plots (panels (**a**–**c**)) are for FMA = (February, March, April) months; second row plots (panels (**d**–**f**)) for MJJ = (May, June, July) months; third row plots (panels (**g**–**i**)) for ASO = (August, September, October) months; and fourth row plots (panels (**j**–**l**)) for NDJ = (November, December, January) months. First column plots (panels (**a**,**d**,**g**,**j**)) are \(H_{0}\) values obtained with calibrated CSES—01 and IRI-modeled data; second column plots (panels (**b**,**e**,**h**,**k**)) are corresponding values obtained with calibrated Swarm B and IRI-modeled data; third column plots (panels (**c**,**f**,**i**,**l**)) are those obtained with COSMIC—1–measured \(N_{\rm e}\) data by radio occultation. Color bar scale is the same across all panels. The solid black curve in each plot represents the geomagnetic equator.  
The results in Figures 6 and 7 demonstrate the importance of calibrating both CSES--01 and Swarm B \(N_{\rm e}\) values measured by LPs.