scholarly journals Ionosonde Total Electron Content Evaluation Using IGS Data

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Telmo dos Santos Klipp ◽  
Adriano Petry ◽  
Gabriel Sandim Falcão ◽  
Jonas Rodrigues de Souza ◽  
Eurico Rodrigues de Paula ◽  
...  

Abstract. In this work, a period of two years (2016–2017) of vertical total electron content (VTEC) from ionosondes operating in Brazil is compared to the International GNSS Service (IGS) data. Sounding instruments from National Institute for Space Research (INPE) provided the ionograms used, which were filtered based on confidence score (CS) and C-level flags evaluation. Differences between TEC from IGS maps and ionograms were accumulated in terms of root mean square error (RMSE). It has been noticed the TEC values provided by ionograms are systematically underestimated, which is attributed to a limitation in the electron density modeled for the ionogram topside that considers maximum height only around 800–900 Km, while IGS takes in account electron density from GNSS stations up to the satellite network orbits. The ionogram topside profiles covering the plasmasphere were re-modeled using an adaptive alpha-Chapman exponential decay that includes a transition function between the F2 layer and plasmasphere, and electron density integration height was extended to compute TEC. Chapman parameters for the F2 layer were extracted from each ionogram, and plasmaspheric scale height was set to 10,000 Km. Our analysis has shown the plasmaspheric basis electron density, assumed to be proportional to the electron peak density, plays an important role to reduce the RMSE values. Depending on the proportionality coefficient choice, mean RMSE reached a minimum of 5.32 TECU, that is 23 % lower than initial ionograms TEC errors.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paulina Woźniak ◽  
Anna Świątek ◽  
Mariusz Pożoga ◽  
Łukasz Tomasik

<p>The signal emitted by the GNSS (<em>Global Navigation Satellite System</em>) satellite, on the way to the receiver located on the Earth’s surface, encounters a heterogeneous layer of ionized gas and free electrons, in which the radio wave is dispersed. As the ionosphere is the source of the highest-value errors among the different factors that affect GNSS positioning accuracy, it is necessary to minimize its negative impact. Various methods are used to compensate for the ionospheric delay, one of which is the usage of models.<br>The intensity of the processes occurring in the ionosphere is closely related to the Sun activity. As a consequence, with respect to a given location on the Earth's surface, the activity of the ionosphere changes throughout the year and day. Therefore, a model dedicated to a specific region is especially important in case of high-precision GNSS applications.<br>The assimilated H2PT model was based on the dual-frequency observations from GNSS stations belonging to EPN (<em>EUREF Permanent Network</em>), as well as on ionosondes participating in the DIAS (<em>European Digital Upper Atmosphere Server</em>) project. The H2PT model covers the Europe area, data with a 15-minutes interval were placed in similar to IONEX (<em>IONosphere Map EXchenge</em>) files in two versions of spatial resolution: 1- and 5-degree. Data provided by the H2PT model are the VTEC (<em>Vertical Total Electron Content</em>) values and the hmF2 (<em>maximum height of the F2 layer</em>) parameters.<br>The subject of this research is the comparison of the H2PT model with NeQuick-G model and IONEX data published by IGS (<em>International GNSS Service</em>) in the context of TEC values as well as determining differences between regional hmF2 data and its commonly used fixed value for the entire globe, amounting to 450 km. In order to perform the analysis, appropriate visualizations were made and statistical parameters determined. Additionally, data from selected periods of positive and negative disturbances were analysed in details based on the developed time series.<br>The relatively high temporal and spatial resolution is undoubtedly an advantage of the H2PT model, because unlike global models, the regional one allows conscientious analysis of the ionosphere characteristics for the area of Europe. Importantly, solutions regarding hmF2 show significant deviations from the fixed value approximated for the whole Earth. Taking into account the parameter appropriate for a given location and time during GNSS data processing may improve the obtained positioning quality. </p>


2013 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 227-246 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wagner Carrupt Machado ◽  
Edvaldo Simões da Fonseca Junior

Uma forma de se prever o conteúdo total de elétrons na direção vertical (VTEC - Vertical Total Electron Content) usando a arquitetura de redes neurais artificiais (RNA) denominada de perceptrons de múltiplas camadas (MLP - MultipLayer Percetrons) é apresentada e avaliada nesta pesquisa. As entradas do modelo foram definidas como sendo a posição dos pontos ionosféricos (IPP - Ionospheric Pierce Point) e o tempo universal (TU), enquanto que a saída é o VTEC. As variações sazonais e de períodos mais longos são levadas em conta através da atualização do treinamento diariamente. Testes foram conduzidos sobre uma área que abrange o Brasil e sua vizinhança considerando períodos de alta e baixa atividade solar. As RNA foram treinadas utilizando informações dos mapas globais da ionosfera (GIM - Global Ionospheric Maps) produzidos pelo serviço internacional do GNSS (IGS - International GNSS Service) das 72 horas anteriores à época de início da previsão. As RNA treinadas foram utilizadas para prever o VTEC por 72 horas (VTEC RNA). Os VTEC RNA foram comparados com os VTEC contidos nos GIM (VTEC GIM). A raiz do erro médio quadrático (RMS) da diferença entre o VTEC GIM e o VTEC RNA variou de 1,4 a 10,7 unidades de TEC (TECU). O erro relativo mostra que a RNA proposta foi capaz de prever o VTEC com 70 a 85% de acerto.


2015 ◽  
Vol 69 (4) ◽  
pp. 698-708 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohamed Abdelazeem ◽  
Rahmi N. Çelik ◽  
Ahmed El-Rabbany

In this study, we develop a Multi-constellation Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) Receiver Differential Code Bias (MGR-DCB) model. The model estimates the receiver DCBs for the Global Positioning System (GPS), BeiDou and Galileo signals from the ionosphere-corrected geometry-free linear combinations of the code observations. In order to account for the ionospheric delay, a Regional Ionospheric Model (RIM) over Europe is developed. GPS observations from 60 International GNSS Servoce (IGS) and EUREF reference stations are processed in the Bernese-5·2 Precise Point Positioning (PPP) module to estimate the Vertical Total Electron Content (VTEC). The RIM has spatial and temporal resolutions of 1° × 1° and 15 minutes, respectively. The receiver DCBs for three stations from the International GNSS Service Multi-GNSS Experiment (IGS-MGEX) are estimated for three different days. The estimated DCBs are compared with the MGEX published values. The results show agreement with the MGEX values with mean difference and Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) values less than 1 ns. In addition, the combined GPS, BeiDou and Galileo VTEC values are evaluated and compared with the IGS Global Ionospheric Maps (IGS-GIM) counterparts. The results show agreement with the GIM values with mean difference and RMSE values less than 1 Total Electron Content Unit (TECU).


2018 ◽  
Vol 72 (3) ◽  
pp. 702-720 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erman Şentürk ◽  
Hamdullah Livaoğlu ◽  
Murat Selim Çepni

In this study, possible ionospheric precursors of the Mw7·1 Van earthquake are investigated with temporal, spatial and spectral analyses. For this purpose, Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) data of 11 International GNSS Service (IGS) stations and 17 Turkish National Permanent Real-Time Kinematic (RTK) Network (TNPGN-Active) stations were utilised. In addition, Global Ionosphere Map (GIM) data produced by the Center for Orbit Determination in Europe (CODE) was used to obtain GIM-vertical Total Electron Content (vTEC) values for the epicentre. The results of the temporal and spectral analysis indicate an increase (2–8 Total Electron Content Units (TECU)) before the Van earthquake occurred on 9 October, 15–16 October and 21–23 October within 15 days, 8–9 days and 1–3 days prior to the earthquake. The Cross-Wavelet Transform (CWT) method was used to examine the presence of correlation between noticeable variations and space-weather. It is deduced from the CWT analysis that the anomalies should originate from either solar effects or the Van earthquake due to coupling between the F10·7 solar activity index and TEC variations on the anomaly days. The results demonstrate that interdisciplinary approaches and various methods including frequency domain could be used to determine the presence of an earthquake-related anomaly in the ionosphere accurately.


2013 ◽  
Vol 31 (7) ◽  
pp. 1241-1249 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Gerzen ◽  
N. Jakowski ◽  
V. Wilken ◽  
M. M. Hoque

Abstract. Electron density is the major determining parameter of the ionosphere. Especially the maximum electron density of the F2 layer in the ionosphere, NmF2, is of particular interest with regard to the HF radio communication applications as well as for characterizing the ionosphere. In this paper we present a new method to generate global maps of NmF2. The main principle behind this approach is to use the information about the current state of the ionosphere included in global total electron content (TEC) maps as well as the relationship between total electron content, equivalent slab thickness and F2 layer peak density. Modeling of slab thickness is an interim step in our reconstruction approach. Thus, results showing the diurnal and seasonal variations and effects of solar activity on the modeled slab thickness values are given. In addition a comparison of the reconstructed NmF2 maps with measurements from several ionosonde stations as well as with the global NmF2 model NPDM is presented. Since 2011 the described method has been used at DLR Neustrelitz to generate NmF2 maps as operational service. These maps are freely available via the Space Weather Application Center Ionosphere SWACI (http://swaciweb.dlr.de).


2017 ◽  
Vol 21 (6) ◽  
pp. 1599-1612 ◽  
Author(s):  
Weiping Jiang ◽  
Yifang Ma ◽  
Xiaohui Zhou ◽  
Zhao Li ◽  
Xiangdong An ◽  
...  

2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 111
Author(s):  
Sri Ekawati

The solar flare is potential to cause sudden increase of the electron density in the ionosphere,particularly in D layer, known as Sudden Ionospheric Disturbances (SID). This increase of electron density occurs not only in the ionospheric D layer but also in the ionospheric E and F layers. Total Electron Content (TEC) measured by GPS is the total number of electrons from D to F layer. The aim of this research is to study the effect of solar flare x-rays, greater than M5 class in 2015, on ionospheric TEC over Bandung and Manado. This paper presents the preliminary result of ionospheric TEC response on solar flare occurrence over Indonesia. The ionospheric TEC data is derived from GPS Ionospheric Scintillation and TEC Monitor (GISTM) receiver at Bandung (-6.90o S;107.6o E geomagnetic latitude 16.54o S) and Manado (1.48o N; 124.85o E geomagnetic latitude 7.7o S). The solar x-rays flares classes analyzed where M5.1 on 10 March 2015 and M7.9 on 25 June 2015. Slant TEC (STEC) values where calculated to obtain Vertical TEC (VTEC) and the Differential of the VTEC (DVTEC) per PRN satellite for further analysis. The results showed that immediately after the flare, there where sudden enhancement of the VTEC and the DVTEC (over Bandung and Manado) at the same time. The time delay of ionospheric TEC response on M5.1 flare was approximately 2 minutes, then the VTEC increased by 0.5 TECU and the DVTEC rose sharply by 0.5 – 0.6 TECU/minutes. Moreover, the time delay after the M7.9 flare was approximately 11 minutes, then the VTEC increased by 1 TECU and the DVTEC rose sharply by 0.6 – 0.9 TECU/minutes. ABSTRAK Flare matahari berpotensi meningkatkan kerapatan elektron ionosfer secara mendadak, khususnya di lapisan D, yang dikenal sebagai Sudden Ionospheric Disturbances (SID). Peningkatan kerapatan elektron tersebut terjadi tidak hanya di lapisan D, tetapi juga di lapisan E dan F ionosfer. Total Electron Content (TEC) dari GPS merupakan jumlah banyaknya elektron total dari lapisan D sampai lapisan F. Penelitian ini bertujuan mengetahui efek flare, yang lebih besar dari kelas M5 tahun 2015, terhadap TEC ionosfer di atas Bandung dan Manado. Makalah ini merupakan hasil awal dari respon TEC ionosfer terhadap fenomena flare di atas Indonesia. Data TEC ionosfer diperoleh dari penerima GPS Ionospheric Scintillation and TEC Monitor (GISTM) di Bandung (-6,90o S; 107,60o E lintang geomagnet 16,54o LS) dan Manado (1,48oLU;124,85oBT lintang geomagnet 7,7o LS) dikaitkan dengan kejadian flare kelas M5.1 pada tanggal 10 Maret 2015 dan kelas M7.9 pada tanggal 25 Juni 2015. Nilai Slant TEC (STEC) dihitung untuk memperoleh nilai Vertical TEC (VTEC), kemudian nilai Differential of VTEC (DVTEC) per PRN satelit diperoleh untuk analisis selanjutnya. Hasil menunjukkan segera setelah terjadi flare, terjadi peningkatan VTEC dan DVTEC (di atas Bandung dan Manado) secara mendadak pada waktu yang sama. Waktu tunda dari respon TEC ionosfer setelah terjadi flare M5.1 adalah sekitar 2 menit, kemudian VTEC meningkat sebesar 0,5 TECU dan DVTEC meningkat secara tajam sebesar 0,5 – 0,6 TECU/menit. Sedangkan, waktu tunda setelah terjadi flare M7.9 adalah 11 menit, kemudian VTEC meningkat sebesar 1 TECU dan DVTEC meningkat secara tajam sebesar 0,6 – 0,9 TECU/menit.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alberto Garcia-Rigo ◽  
Benedikt Soja

<p>Multiple space geodetic techniques are capable of measuring effects caused by space weather events. In particular, space weather events can cause ionospheric disturbances correlated with variations in the vertical total electron content (VTEC) or the electron density (Ne) of the ionosphere.</p><p>In this regard and in the context of the new Focus Area on Geodetic Space Weather Research within IAG’s GGOS (International Association of Geodesy; Global Geodetic Observing System), the Joint Working Group 3 on Improved understanding of space weather events and their monitoring by satellite missions has been created as part of IAG Commission 4, Sub-Commission 4.3 to run for the next four years.</p><p>Within JWG3, we expect investigating different approaches to monitor space weather events using the data from different space geodetic techniques and, in particular, combinations thereof. Simulations will be beneficial to identify the contribution of different techniques and prepare for the analysis of real data. Different strategies for the combination of data will also be investigated, in particular, the weighting of estimates from different techniques in order to increase the performance and reliability of the combined estimates. Furthermore, existing algorithms for the detection and prediction of space weather events will be explored and improved to the extent possible. Furthermore, the geodetic measurement of the ionospheric electron density will be complemented by direct observations from the Sun gathered from existing spacecraft, such as SOHO, ACE, SDO, Parker Solar Probe, among others. The combination and joint evaluation of multiple datasets with the measurements of space geodetic observation techniques (e.g. geodetic VLBI) is still a great challenge. In addition, other indications for solar activity - such as the F10.7 index on solar radio flux, SOLERA as EUV proxy or rate of Global Electron Content (dGEC)-, provide additional opportunities for comparisons and validation.</p><p>Through these investigations, we will identify the key parameters useful to improve real-time/prediction of ionospheric/plasmaspheric VTEC, Ne estimates, as well as ionospheric perturbations, in case of extreme solar weather conditions. In general, we will gain a better understanding of space weather events and their effect on Earth’s atmosphere and near-Earth environment.</p>


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