Efficient global ionospheric modeling based on multi-source and massive observation data

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xulei Jin ◽  
Shuli Song ◽  
Wei Li ◽  
Na Cheng
Keyword(s):  
Real Time ◽  
Rapid Development ◽  
Electron Content ◽  
Vertical Total Electron Content ◽  
Observation Data ◽  
Total Electron ◽  
Ionospheric Modeling ◽  
Virtual Observation ◽  
Data Missing ◽  
Modeling Strategy

<p><strong><span>Abstract</span></strong><span> Ionosphere is an important error source of satellite navigation and a key component of space weather. With the rapid development of multiple Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) and other ionospheric research technologies, and the high precision and near real-time requirements for ionospheric products, it is necessary to carry out a research on multi-source data fusion, massive data processing and near-real-time solution of global ionosphere model (GIM); therefore, we modified the traditional ionospheric modeling technology and generate the GIM products (GIM/SHA). In view of the defect of ground-based GNSS data missing in the ocean regions, the method of adding virtual observation stations to the data missing regions in a large range was adopted, which not only enhanced the accuracy of the GIM in the ocean regions, but also avoided the weight determination among different data sources. In terms of near-real-time modeling, the multi-threaded parallel modeling strategy was adopted.</span> <span>Four GNSS (GPS, GLONASS, BEIDOU, Galileo) observation data, eight virtual observation stations and a server with a CPU frequency of 2.1 GHz and 16 threads were utilized. It took less than 30 minutes to construct the GIM by using parallel modeling strategy, which was 10.3 times faster than serial modeling strategy. The accuracy of the GIM/SHA was verified by using the ionospheric products of International GNSS Service (IGS) Ionosphere Associate Analysis Centers (IAACs) in the period of day of year (DOY) 200-365, 2019. Compared with the ionospheric products of CODE, ESA/ESOC, JPL, UPC, EMR, CAS and WHU, the vertical total electron content (VTEC) root mean squares (RMSs) were 1.09 TEC units (TECu), 1.51TECu, 2.32TECu, 1.88TECu, 2.24TECu, 1.25TECu and 1.38TECu, respectively. The result shows that the GIM/SHA have comparable accuracy with IGS ionospheric products. Satellite altimetry data was exploited to verify the accuracy of GIM/SHA in ocean regions, and it can be concluded that the accuracy of the GIM in ocean regions can be significantly reinforced by adding virtual observation stations in ocean regions. Multi-system and multi-frequency differential code bias (DCB) products (DCB/SHA) were simultaneously generated. Compared with IGS DCB products, the satellite DCB RMSs of DCB/SHA were 0.16ns for GPS, 0.08ns for GLONASS, 0.17ns for BEIDOU and 0.14ns for Galileo; the GNSS receiver DCB RMSs of DCB/SHA were 0.69ns for GPS, 1.06ns for GLONASS, 0.75 for BEIDOU and 1.03ns for Galileo. It can be proved that the accuracy of DCB/SHA are comparable to IGS DCB products.</span></p><p><strong><span>Keywords</span></strong><span> Multi-GNSS; GIM; Virtual observation station; Near real-time; VTEC; DCB</span></p>

scholarly journals Real-Time Global Ionospheric Map and Its Application in Single-Frequency Positioning

Sensors ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (5) ◽  
pp. 1138 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liang Zhang ◽  
Yibin Yao ◽  
Wenjie Peng ◽  
Lulu Shan ◽  
Yulin He ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Real Time ◽  
Total Electron Content ◽  
Precise Point Positioning ◽  
Single Frequency ◽  
Electron Content ◽  
Vertical Total Electron Content ◽  
Total Electron ◽  
Time Service ◽  
Point Positioning ◽  
Raw Observations

The prevalence of real-time, low-cost, single-frequency, decimeter-level positioning has increased with the development of global navigation satellite systems (GNSSs). Ionospheric delay accounts for most errors in real-time single-frequency GNSS positioning. To eliminate ionospheric interference in real-time single-frequency precise point positioning (RT-SF-PPP), global ionospheric vertical total electron content (VTEC) product is designed in the next stage of the International GNSS Service (IGS) real-time service (RTS). In this study, real-time generation of a global ionospheric map (GIM) based on IGS RTS is proposed and assessed. There are three crucial steps in the process of generating a real-time global ionospheric map (RTGIM): estimating station differential code bias (DCB) using the precise point positioning (PPP) method, deriving slant total electron content (STEC) from PPP with raw observations, and modeling global vertical total electron content (VTEC). Experiments were carried out to validate the algorithm’s effectiveness. First, one month’s data from 16 globally distributed IGS stations were used to validate the performance of DCB estimation with the PPP method. Second, 30 IGS stations were used to verify the accuracy of static PPP with raw observations. Third, the modeling of residuals was assessed in high and quiet ionospheric activity periods. Afterwards, the quality of RTGIM products was assessed from two aspects: (1) comparison with the Center for Orbit Determination in Europe (CODE) global ionospheric map (GIM) products and (2) determination of the performance of RT-SF-PPP with the RTGIM. Experimental results show that DCB estimation using the PPP method can realize an average accuracy of 0.2 ns; static PPP with raw observations can achieve an accuracy of 0.7, 1.2, and 2.1 cm in the north, east, and up components, respectively. The average standard deviations (STDs) of the model residuals are 2.07 and 2.17 TEC units (TECU) for moderate and high ionospheric activity periods. Moreover, the average root-mean-square (RMS) error of RTGIM products is 2.4 TECU for the one-month moderate ionospheric period. Nevertheless, for the high ionospheric period, the RMS is greater than the RMS in the moderate period. A sub-meter-level horizontal accuracy and meter-level vertical accuracy can be achieved when the RTGIM is employed in RT-SF-PPP.

Real-time regional VTEC modeling based on B-splines using real-time GPS and GLONASS observations

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eren Erdogan ◽  
Andreas Goss ◽  
Michael Schmidt ◽  
Denise Dettmering ◽  
Florian Seitz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Kalman Filter ◽  
Real Time ◽  
Carrier Phase ◽  
Background Information ◽  
Electron Content ◽  
Vertical Total Electron Content ◽  
Total Electron ◽  
B Spline ◽  
B Splines ◽  
Cycle Slips

<p>The project OPTIMAP is at the current stage a joint initiative of BGIC, GSSAC and DGFI-TUM. The development of an operational tool for ionospheric mapping and prediction is the main goal of the project.</p><p>The ionosphere is a dispersive medium. Therefore, GNSS signals are refracted while they pass through the ionosphere. The magnitude of the refraction rate depends on the frequencies of the transmitted GNSS signals. The ionospheric disturbance on the GNSS signals paves the way of extracting Vertical Total Electron Content (VTEC) information of the ionosphere.</p><p>In OPTIMAP, the representation of the global and regional VTEC signal is based on localizing B-spline basis functions. For global VTEC modeling, polynomial B-splines are employed to represent the latitudinal variations, whereas trigonometric B-splines are used for the longitudinal variations. The regional modeling in OPTIMAP relies on a polynomial B-spline representation for both latitude and longitude.</p><p>The VTEC modeling in this study relies on both a global and a regional sequential estimator (Kalman filter) running in a parallel mode. The global VTEC estimator produces VTEC maps based on data from GNSS receiver stations which are mainly part of the global real-time IGS network. The global estimator relies on additional VTEC information obtained from a forecast procedure using ultra-rapid VTEC products. The regional estimator makes use of the VTEC product of the real-time global estimator as background information and generates high-resolution VTEC maps using real-time data from the EUREF Permanent GNSS Network. EUREF provides a network of very dense GNSS receivers distributed alongside Europe.</p><p>Carrier phase observations acquired from GPS and GLONASS, which are transmitted in accordance with RTCM standard, are used for real-time regional VTEC modeling. After the acquisition of GNSS data, cycle slips for each satellite-receiver pair are detected, and ionosphere observations are constructed via the linear combination of carrier-phase observations in the data pre-processing step. The unknown B-spline coefficients, as well as the biases for each phase-continuous arc belonging to each receiver-satellite pair, are simultaneously estimated in the Kalman filter.</p><p>Within this study, we compare the performance of regional and global VTEC products generated in real-time using the well-known dSTEC analysis.</p>

scholarly journals A Refinement Method of Real-Time Ionospheric Model for China

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (20) ◽  
pp. 3354
Author(s):  
Yang Wang ◽  
Yibin Yao ◽  
Liang Zhang ◽  
Mingshan Fang
Keyword(s):  
Real Time ◽  
Total Electron Content ◽  
Global Navigation Satellite Systems ◽  
Single Frequency ◽  
Electron Content ◽  
Vertical Total Electron Content ◽  
Ionospheric Model ◽  
Total Electron ◽  
Satellite Systems ◽  
Refinement Method

Ionospheric delay is a crucial error source and determines the source of single-frequency precise point positioning (SF-PPP) accuracy. To meet the demands of real-time SF-PPP (RT-SF-PPP), several international global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) service (IGS) analysis centers provide real-time global ionospheric vertical total electron content (VTEC) products. However, the accuracy distribution of VTEC products is nonuniform. Proposing a refinement method is a convenient means to obtain a more accuracy and consistent VTEC product. In this study, we proposed a refinement method of a real-time ionospheric VTEC model for China and carried out experiments to validate the model effectiveness. First, based on the refinement method and the Centre National d’Études Spatiales (CNES) VTEC products, three refined real-time global ionospheric models (RRTGIMs) with one, three, and six stations in China were built via GNSS observations. Second, the slant total electron content (STEC) and Jason-3 VTEC were used as references to evaluate VTEC accuracy. Third, RT-SF-PPP was used to evaluate the accuracy in the positioning domain. Results showed that even if using only one station to refine the global ionospheric model, the refined model achieved a better performance than CNES and the Center for Orbit Determination in Europe (CODE). The refinement model with six stations was found to be the best of the three refinement models.

scholarly journals The cooperative IGS RT-GIMs: a global and accurate estimation of the ionospheric electron content distribution in real-time

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qi Liu ◽  
Manuel Hernández-Pajares ◽  
Heng Yang ◽  
Enric Monte-Moreno ◽  
David Roma-Dollase ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Real Time ◽  
Geomagnetic Storms ◽  
Quality Data ◽  
Accurate Estimation ◽  
Electron Content ◽  
Vertical Total Electron Content ◽  
Total Electron ◽  
The Real ◽  
Gnss Positioning ◽  
Testing Period

Abstract. The Real-Time Working Group (RTWG) of the International GNSS Service (IGS) is dedicated to providing high-quality data, high-accuracy products for Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) positioning, navigation, timing, and Earth observations. As one part of real-time products, the IGS combined Real-Time Global Ionosphere Map (RT-GIM) has been generated by the real-time weighting of the RT-GIMs from IGS real-time ionosphere centers including the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales (CNES), Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC), and Wuhan University (WHU). The performance of global Vertical Total Electron Content (VTEC) representation in all of the RT-GIMs has been assessed by VTEC from Jason3-altimeter during one month over oceans and dSTEC-GPS technique with 2-day observations over continental regions. According to the Jason3-VTEC and dSTEC-GPS assessment, the real-time weighting technique is sensitive to the accuracy of RT-GIMs. Compared with the performance of post-processed rapid Global Ionosphere Maps (GIMs) and IGS combined final GIM (igsg) during the testing period, the accuracy of UPC RT-GIM (after the transition of interpolation technique) and IGS combined RT-GIM (IRTG) is equivalent to the rapid GIMs and reaches around 2.7 and 3.0 TECU (TEC Unit, 1016 el/m2) over oceans and continental regions, respectively. The accuracy of CAS RT-GIM and CNES RT-GIM is slightly worse than the rapid GIMs, while WHU RT-GIM requires a further upgrade to obtain similar performance. In addition, the strong response to the recent geomagnetic storms has been found in the Global Electron Content (GEC) of IGS RT-GIMs (especially UPC RT-GIM and IGS combined RT-GIM). The IGS RT-GIMs turn out to be reliable sources of real-time global VTEC information and have great potential for real-time applications including range error correction for transionospheric radio signals (such as GNSS positioning, search and rescue, air traffic, radar altimetry, and radioastronomy), the monitoring of space weather (such as geomagnetic and ionospheric storms, ionospheric disturbance) and detection of natural hazards on a global scale (such as hurricanes/typhoons, ionospheric anomalies associated with earthquakes). All the IGS combined RT-GIMs generated and analyzed during the testing period are available at http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4651445 (Liu et al., 2021b).

Ionosphere VTEC modeling with the raw-observation-based PPP model：an advantage demonstration in the multi-frequency and multi-GNSS context

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Teng Liu ◽  
Baocheng Zhang ◽  
Yunbin Yuan ◽  
Xiao Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Rapid Development ◽  
Global Navigation Satellite Systems ◽  
Electron Content ◽  
Vertical Total Electron Content ◽  
Dual Frequency ◽  
International Gnss Service ◽  
Total Electron ◽  
Satellite Systems ◽  
Triple Frequency ◽  
Global Navigation Satellite

<p>The ionospheric delay accounts for one of the major errors that the Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) suffer from. Hence, the ionosphere Vertical Total Electron Content (VTEC) map has been an important atmospheric product within the International GNSS Service (IGS) since its early establishment. In this contribution, an enhanced method has been proposed for the modeling of the ionosphere VTECs. Firstly, to cope with the rapid development of the newly-established Galileo and BeiDou constellations in recent years, we extend the current dual-system (GPS/GLONASS) solution to a quad-system (GPS/GLONASS/Galileo/BeiDou) solution. More importantly, instead of using dual-frequency observations based on the Carrier-to-Code Leveling (CCL) method, all available triple-frequency signals are utilized with a general raw-observation-based multi-frequency Precise Point Positioning (PPP) model, which can process dual-, triple- or even arbitrary-frequency observations compatibly and flexibly. Benefiting from this, quad-system slant ionospheric delays can be retrieved based on multi-frequency observations in a more flexible, accurate and reliable way. The PPP model has been applied in both post-processing global and real-time regional VTEC modeling. Results indicate that with the improved slant ionospheric delays, the corresponding VTEC models are also improved, comparing with the traditional CCL method.</p>

Real-time regional VTEC modeling based on B-splines using real-time GPS, GLONASS and GALILEO observations

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eren Erdogan ◽  
Andreas Goss ◽  
Michael Schmidt ◽  
Denise Dettmering ◽  
Florian Seitz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Kalman Filter ◽  
Real Time ◽  
Carrier Phase ◽  
Background Information ◽  
Electron Content ◽  
Vertical Total Electron Content ◽  
Total Electron ◽  
B Spline ◽  
B Splines ◽  
Cycle Slips

<p>The project OPTIMAP is at the current stage a joint initiative of BGIC, GSSAC and DGFI-TUM. The development of an operational tool for ionospheric mapping and prediction is the main goal of the project.</p><p>The ionosphere is a dispersive medium. Therefore, GNSS signals are refracted while they pass through the ionosphere. The magnitude of the refraction rate depends on the frequencies of the transmitted GNSS signals. The ionospheric disturbance on the GNSS signals paves the way of extracting Vertical Total Electron Content (VTEC) information of the ionosphere.</p><p>In OPTIMAP, the representation of the global and regional VTEC signal is based on localizing B-spline basis functions. For global VTEC modeling, polynomial B-splines are employed to represent the latitudinal variations, whereas trigonometric B-splines are used for the longitudinal variations. The regional modeling in OPTIMAP relies on a polynomial B-spline representation for both latitude and longitude.</p><p>The VTEC modeling in this study relies on both a global and a regional sequential estimator (Kalman filter) running in a parallel mode. The global VTEC estimator produces VTEC maps based on data from GNSS receiver stations which are mainly part of the global real-time IGS network. The global estimator relies on additional VTEC information obtained from a forecast procedure using ultra-rapid VTEC products. The regional estimator makes use of the VTEC product of the real-time global estimator as background information and generates high-resolution VTEC maps using real-time data from the EUREF Permanent GNSS Network. EUREF provides a network of very dense GNSS receivers distributed alongside Europe.</p><p>Carrier phase observations acquired from GPS, GLONASS and GALILEO constellations, which are transmitted in accordance with RTCM standard, are used for real-time regional VTEC modeling. After the acquisition of GNSS data, cycle slips for each satellite-receiver pair are detected, and ionosphere observations are constructed via the linear combination of carrier-phase observations in the data pre-processing step. The unknown B-spline coefficients, as well as the biases for each phase-continuous arc belonging to each receiver-satellite pair, are simultaneously estimated in the Kalman filter.</p><p>Within this study, we compare the performance of regional and global VTEC products generated in real-time using the well-known dSTEC analysis.</p>

scholarly journals The cooperative IGS RT-GIMs: a reliable estimation of the global ionospheric electron content distribution in real time

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. 4567-4582
Author(s):  
Qi Liu ◽  
Manuel Hernández-Pajares ◽  
Heng Yang ◽  
Enric Monte-Moreno ◽  
David Roma-Dollase ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Real Time ◽  
Geomagnetic Storms ◽  
Quality Data ◽  
Electron Content ◽  
Vertical Total Electron Content ◽  
International Gnss Service ◽  
Strong Response ◽  
Total Electron ◽  
The Real ◽  
Testing Period

Abstract. The Real-Time Working Group (RTWG) of the International GNSS Service (IGS) is dedicated to providing high-quality data and high-accuracy products for Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) positioning, navigation, timing and Earth observations. As one part of real-time products, the IGS combined Real-Time Global Ionosphere Map (RT-GIM) has been generated by the real-time weighting of the RT-GIMs from IGS real-time ionosphere centers including the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES), Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) and Wuhan University (WHU). The performance of global vertical total electron content (VTEC) representation in all of the RT-GIMs has been assessed by VTEC from Jason-3 altimeter for 3 months over oceans and dSTEC-GPS technique with 2 d observations over continental regions. According to the Jason-3 VTEC and dSTEC-GPS assessment, the real-time weighting technique is sensitive to the accuracy of RT-GIMs. Compared with the performance of post-processed rapid global ionosphere maps (GIMs) and IGS combined final GIM (igsg) during the testing period, the accuracy of UPC RT-GIM (after the improvement of the interpolation technique) and IGS combined RT-GIM (IRTG) is equivalent to the rapid GIMs and reaches around 2.7 and 3.0 TECU (TEC unit, 1016 el m−2) over oceans and continental regions, respectively. The accuracy of CAS RT-GIM and CNES RT-GIM is slightly worse than the rapid GIMs, while WHU RT-GIM requires a further upgrade to obtain similar performance. In addition, a strong response to the recent geomagnetic storms has been found in the global electron content (GEC) of IGS RT-GIMs (especially UPC RT-GIM and IGS combined RT-GIM). The IGS RT-GIMs turn out to be reliable sources of real-time global VTEC information and have great potential for real-time applications including range error correction for transionospheric radio signals, the monitoring of space weather, and detection of natural hazards on a global scale. All the IGS combined RT-GIMs generated and analyzed during the testing period are available at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5042622 (Liu et al., 2021b).

scholarly journals Near real-time estimation of ionosphere vertical total electron content from GNSS satellites using B-splines in a Kalman filter

2017 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 263-277 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eren Erdogan ◽  
Michael Schmidt ◽  
Florian Seitz ◽  
Murat Durmaz
Keyword(s):  
Kalman Filter ◽  
Real Time ◽  
Data Distribution ◽  
Time Estimation ◽  
Electron Content ◽  
Vertical Total Electron Content ◽  
Unknown Parameters ◽  
Total Electron ◽  
B Spline ◽  
Real Time Estimation

Abstract. Although the number of terrestrial global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receivers supported by the International GNSS Service (IGS) is rapidly growing, the worldwide rather inhomogeneously distributed observation sites do not allow the generation of high-resolution global ionosphere products. Conversely, with the regionally enormous increase in highly precise GNSS data, the demands on (near) real-time ionosphere products, necessary in many applications such as navigation, are growing very fast. Consequently, many analysis centers accepted the responsibility of generating such products. In this regard, the primary objective of our work is to develop a near real-time processing framework for the estimation of the vertical total electron content (VTEC) of the ionosphere using proper models that are capable of a global representation adapted to the real data distribution. The global VTEC representation developed in this work is based on a series expansion in terms of compactly supported B-spline functions, which allow for an appropriate handling of the heterogeneous data distribution, including data gaps. The corresponding series coefficients and additional parameters such as differential code biases of the GNSS satellites and receivers constitute the set of unknown parameters. The Kalman filter (KF), as a popular recursive estimator, allows processing of the data immediately after acquisition and paves the way of sequential (near) real-time estimation of the unknown parameters. To exploit the advantages of the chosen data representation and the estimation procedure, the B-spline model is incorporated into the KF under the consideration of necessary constraints. Based on a preprocessing strategy, the developed approach utilizes hourly batches of GPS and GLONASS observations provided by the IGS data centers with a latency of 1 h in its current realization. Two methods for validation of the results are performed, namely the self consistency analysis and a comparison with Jason-2 altimetry data. The highly promising validation results allow the conclusion that under the investigated conditions our derived near real-time product is of the same accuracy level as the so-called final post-processed products provided by the IGS with a latency of several days or even weeks.

scholarly journals Investigation of GIM-TEC disturbances before M ≥ 6.0 inland earthquakes during 2003–2017

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Fuying Zhu ◽  
Yingchun Jiang
Keyword(s):  
Rapid Development ◽  
Science Research ◽  
Satellite System ◽  
Statistical Investigation ◽  
Electron Content ◽  
Total Electron ◽  
Spatial And Temporal Distributions ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Global Ionosphere Map ◽  
Global Navigation Satellite

Abstract With the rapid development of the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) and its wide applications to atmospheric science research, the global ionosphere map (GIM) total electron content (TEC) data are extensively used as a potential tool to detect ionospheric disturbances related to seismic activity and they are frequently used to statistically study the relation between the ionosphere and earthquakes (EQs). Indeed, due to the distribution of ground based GPS receivers is very sparse or absent in large areas of ocean, the GIM-TEC data over oceans are results of interpolation between stations and extrapolation in both space and time, and therefore, they are not suitable for studying the marine EQs. In this paper, based on the GIM-TEC data, a statistical investigation of ionospheric TEC variations of 15 days before and after the 276 M ≥ 6.0 inland EQs is undertaken. After eliminating the interference of geomagnetic activities, the spatial and temporal distributions of the ionospheric TEC disturbances before and after the EQs are investigated and compared. There are no particularly distinct features in the time distribution of the ionospheric TEC disturbances before the inland EQs. However, there are some differences in the spatial distribution, and the biggest difference is precisely in the epicenter area. On the other hand, the occurrence rates of ionospheric TEC disturbances within 5 days before the EQs are overall higher than those after EQs, in addition both of them slightly increase with the earthquake magnitude. These results suggest that the anomalous variations of the GIM-TEC before the EQs might be related to the seismic activities.

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