Influence of different types of ionospheric disturbances on GPS signals at polar latitudes

Abstract

Abstract. The comparative research of the influence of different types of auroral particle precipitation and polar cap patches (PCPs) on the global positioning system (GPS) signals disturbances in the polar ionosphere was done. For this purpose, we use the GPS scintillation receivers at Ny-Ålesund and Skibotn, operated by the University of Oslo. The presence of the auroral particle precipitation and polar cap patches was determined by using data from the EISCAT 42m radar on Svalbard. The optical aurora observations in 557.7 and 630.0 nm spectrum lines on Svalbard were used as well for the detection of ionospheric disturbances. The cusp identification was done with using SuperDARN (Hankasalmi) data. We consider events when the simultaneous EISCAT 42m and GPS data were available for the years 2010–2017, and in this paper we present, in detail, typical examples describing the overall picture, and we present the statistics for 120 events. We considered the dayside/cusp precipitation, substorm precipitation, daytime and nighttime PCPs, and precipitation associated with the interplanetary shock wave arrival. We demonstrate that substorm-associated precipitation (even without PCPs) can lead to a strong GPS phase (σϕ) scintillations up to ∼ 1.5–3 radians, which is much stronger than those usually produced by other types of considered ionosphere disturbances. The value of the substorm-phase scintillations in general correlate with the value of the geomagnetic field disturbance. But sometimes even a small geomagnetic substorm, when combined with the PCPs, produces quite strong phase scintillations. Cusp phase scintillations are lower than dayside PCPs scintillations. PCPs can lead to stronger ROT (rate of total electron content) variations than other types of ionosphere disturbances. So our observations suggest that the substorms and PCPs, being different types of the high-latitude disturbances, lead to the development of different types and scales of ionospheric irregularities.

About the Propagation of RSDN‐20 “Alpha” Signals in the Earth‐Ionosphere Waveguide During Geomagnetic Disturbances

“…The effects associated with the interplanetary shock (IP) arrival on 24 January 2012 were studied in detail in paper (Belakhovsky et al., 2017), the polar substorm on 11 December 2015 with using geophysical instruments on Svalbard was studied in paper (Belakhovsky et al., 2021). So we select these previously considered events by one of the co‐authors for the current research.…”

“…At an altitude of 125 km, N e increases from 1·10 4 to 5·10 5 cm −3 . The substorm were accompanied by the strong increase in aurora intensity along different spectrum lines, appearance of the bright aurora arc (Belakhovsky et al., 2021). The substorm leads to the growth of the GPS phase scintillations to the high values (more than 2 radians) and at some moments it is seen the loss of the GPS signal (Belakhovsky et al., 2021).…”

Influence of geomagnetic disturbances on scintillations of GLONASS and GPS signals as observed on the Kola Peninsula

“…В качестве характеристики возмущенности ГНСС-сигнала используется также скорость изменения полного электронного содержания (ПЭС, TEC) ионосферы ROT (Rate of TEC). Интенсивность флуктуаций оценивалась с использованием карт ROTI (индекс ROT) для высокоширотного региона [Cherniak et al, 2014]. Вариации ПЭС (ROT) в целом хорошо связаны с вариациями σ Ф [Makarevich et al, 2021], но во время отдельных событий эта связь может быть не так очевидна [Belakhovsky et al, 2021].…”

“…В отличие от CIRбурь, CME-бури сопровождаются появлением SSC-импульса (storm sudden commencement), связанного с приходом межпланетной ударной волны (МУВ). В статье [Borovsky, Denton, 2006] выделено 21 отличие между CME и CIR магнитными бурями.…”

Influence of ionospheric disturbances on GNSS scintillations at auroral latitudes

“…In addition to scintillation, other effects, such as loss of lock [6] and cycle slips [7], have been directly observed in relation to auroral emissions. In a recent paper [8], we studied the effect of polar ionospheric disturbances on GPS signal scintillations using observations on the Svalbard archipelago. A comparison was made of the impact of precipitation in the cusp region, substorm precipitation, and "patches" of the polar cap on GPS signal scintillations.…”