GPS Signal Corruption by the Discrete Aurora: Precise Measurements From the Mahali Experiment

Semeter, J. L.; Mrak, Sebastijan; Hirsch, Michael; Swoboda, John; Akbari, H.; Starr, Gregory; Hampton, D. L.; Erickson, P. J.; Lind, Frank D.; Coster, A. J.; Pankratius, Victor

doi:10.1002/2017gl073570

Cited by 25 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…The scintillation event described in this case study was determined to be due to the F-region based on all-sky images of emissions also. Another case study from the literature demonstrates E-region phase-only scintillation on 7 October 2015 (Mrak et al, 2018;Semeter et al, 2017). That study recorded array-wide loss of lock on multiple GPS signals associated with ionospheric scintillation.…”

Section: Radio Sciencementioning

confidence: 94%

“…We use two case studies in the literature (Semeter et al, ; Su, Datta‐Barua, et al, ) to help determine which PFISR data parameter, density, or ion or electron temperature, is a reasonable single indicator of the layer correlated with the GPS scintillations. The first case study from the literature is an F‐region scintillation on 8 December 2013 (Datta‐Barua et al, ; Su, Datta‐Barua, et al, ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Another case study from the literature demonstrates E‐region phase‐only scintillation on 7 October 2015 (Mrak et al, ; Semeter et al, ). That study recorded array‐wide loss of lock on multiple GPS signals associated with ionospheric scintillation.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Prior work (Su, ) examined a number of scintillations, at least one of which was attributed to the F layer (Datta‐Barua et al, ; Su, Datta‐Barua, et al, ). More recently, individual case studies (Loucks et al, ; Semeter et al, ) showed the possibility that E layer irregularities, particularly related to auroral activity, were correlated with GPS‐effective scintillations. With a statistical study of 17 days over two Antarctic winters, Kinrade et al () showed phase scintillations to be more correlated with auroral 557.7‐nm emissions (which tend to be E layer) than 630.0‐nm emissions (throughout the F layer).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Automated Ionospheric Scattering Layer Hypothesis Generation for Detected and Classified Auroral Global Positioning System Scintillation Events

Sreenivash

Datta‐Barua

2020

Radio Science

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We describe a method to detect and classify global positioning system (GPS) scintillation, and then hypothesize a possible ionospheric layer scattering the signal. The objective is to routinely identify events of interest to investigate in detail in future work. Scintillation types include amplitude, phase, or both amplitude and phase. A scintillation event is one for which a scintillation index remains above a threshold across a majority of closely spaced receivers viewing a single satellite. Events are categorized by signal frequency and scintillation type. An event is then hypothesized to be due to the E or F layer using an independent data source. Data from the scintillation auroral GPS array located in Poker Flat Research Range, Alaska, are used to analyze L1 and L2C frequencies in 2014 and 2015. The irregularity layer associated with each scintillation event is hypothesized to be due to the activity in the E layer of the ionosphere (below 150 km) or in the F layer (above 195 km) using collocated Poker Flat Incoherent Scatter Radar electron density measurements. Events in a transition layer (150-195 km) and inconclusive results are also recorded. We find that nearly all of the over 4,000 events are phase scintillations. The majority of the events are hypothesized to occur when the peak density is at E-layer altitudes. This indicates that E-layer-related scintillation may be quite common at auroral latitudes and that GPS receivers are sensitive to the irregularities occurring both there and at F layer altitudes.Plain Language Summary As global positioning system (GPS) signals pass through Earth's atmosphere, they may "twinkle" when received at the ground due to variations in the number of charged particles present in the ionized layer of the Earth's atmosphere, the ionosphere. The twinkling or rapid fluctuation in the GPS signals is called ionospheric scintillation. We develop a way, using data from GPS receivers and a nearby radar, to detect and classify scintillations measured in Alaska in 2014 and 2015, and then make an educated guess about whether they are in the upper or lower layer of the ionosphere. This method will be useful for handling large data sets of scintillation, which are now becoming more common. We find that, even though most of the ionosphere's charged particles are usually above 195 km height, GPS is sensitive to scintillations at high latitudes due to variations in a lower layer below 150 km, and these happen a majority of the time.

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Section: Radio Sciencementioning

confidence: 94%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Automated Ionospheric Scattering Layer Hypothesis Generation for Detected and Classified Auroral Global Positioning System Scintillation Events

Sreenivash

Datta‐Barua

2020

Radio Science

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“…With recent advances in imaging technology, the physical morphology of aurora can now be studied in more detail from microscopic to macroscopic sizes using digital All Sky Imagers (ASIs; Donovan et al, ; Mende et al, ). Previous observational studies (e.g., Basu et al, ; Jin et al, ; Kinrade et al, , ; Pi et al, ; Prikryl et al, ; Semeter et al, ; Van der Meeren et al, ) have demonstrated that auroral precipitation can create electron density structures in the ionosphere and a radio signal traversing through these irregularities can experience rapid amplitude and phase fluctuations called scintillation. Scintillation can sometimes cause receivers to lose lock on a radio signal and hence can affect the accuracy of Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), including GPS (e.g., Garner et al, ; Smith et al, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Proxy Index Derived From All Sky Imagers for Space Weather Impact on GPS

et al. 2018

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Global Positioning System (GPS) signals passing through the auroral ionosphere, which exhibits multiscreen electron density structuring, maybe scintillated causing observation and possibly positioning errors. It is advantageous to determine the magnitude of GPS signal scintillation associated with a given level of auroral brightness observed around the signal's ionospheric pierce point (IPP). Such information would enable the exploitation of auroral image observations in space weather monitoring and help in assessment of impact on infrastructure/services reliant on GNSS. Studies have observed a general positive correlation between auroral brightness and GPS phase scintillation but not a definite one-to-one relationship. In this study a correlation coefficient of 0.38 is observed between the phase scintillation and the level of auroral arc brightness around the GPS signal's raypath for a data set of 292 events in the Canadian sector. Alternatively, a new pseudo-scintillation index, Rate of change of Brightness index, is introduced in this study which is derived from the changing auroral brightness around the satellite's IPP. This Rate of change of Brightness index is highly positively correlated (correlation coefficient: 0.75) with GPS phase scintillation. Spatial and spectral relationships between auroral brightness around the satellite's IPP and phase scintillation were also analyzed. It is observed that probability of GPS signals experiencing phase scintillation is high when the auroral brightness around the satellite's IPP has dominant fluctuations in the frequency band~0.06 to 0.16 Hz. These results indicate that GPS signal scintillation is related to the dynamics of the brightness around the satellite's IPP as the satellite signal propagates through the aurora.

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Field‐Aligned GPS Scintillation: Multisensor Data Fusion

et al. 2018

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The Mahali Global Positioning System (GPS) array (9 receivers, 15–30 km baseline distance) in central Alaska has probed auroral structures in a field‐aligned direction during a geomagnetic substorm on 7 October 2015. We present results from a collaborative study of GPS phase scintillation, optical emission brightness, and ionospheric density perturbations, by virtue of data fusion procedure from the Mahali GPS array, all‐sky imager (ASI), and the Poker Flat Incoherent Scatter Radar (PFISR). First, we present observations in a traditional way using colocated GPS‐ASI sensors, giving us a principal pattern of the phase scintillation with respect to auroral brightness, free of any mapping ambiguities. Next, we use an assumption that the plasma irregularities are located at an altitude of 120 km, we map the optical data to this altitude, and we extend the GPS‐ASI study over the entire field of view of the GPS receiver array. We obtain a repeatable and persuasive pattern, revealing that GPS phase scintillation is clustered at the auroral edges. Moreover, investigation of the colinear ISR observations supports the altitude assumption of scintillation producing irregularities, and PFISR‐derived electric field estimates suggest that the source for irregularities is gradient drift instability. The phase scintillation was observed on all GPS receivers, phase scintillation exceeded once cycle during several electrojet intensifications, and several events lasted for more than a minute. Finally, phase scintillation was observed during all surge events, independent of the particular auroral morphology.

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GPS Signal Corruption by the Discrete Aurora: Precise Measurements From the Mahali Experiment

Cited by 25 publications

References 37 publications

Automated Ionospheric Scattering Layer Hypothesis Generation for Detected and Classified Auroral Global Positioning System Scintillation Events

Automated Ionospheric Scattering Layer Hypothesis Generation for Detected and Classified Auroral Global Positioning System Scintillation Events

Proxy Index Derived From All Sky Imagers for Space Weather Impact on GPS

Field‐Aligned GPS Scintillation: Multisensor Data Fusion

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