Ionospheric monitoring using a low-cost GNSS receiver

Abstract

One of the principal techniques for ground-based ionospheric monitoring is based on high-grade Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receivers. Recently, the availability of low-cost commercial GNSS modules encouraged their exploitation in the frames of several positioning engineering applications. The aim of this study is to investigate the capability of a low-cost GNSS receiver in ionospheric monitoring with a performance comparable to that of a high-grade receiver with clear advantages in cost, size and power consumption. A comparative study between a LeicaGR30 high-grade geodetic receiver, and a low-cost, GNSS Receiver dual-frequency based on a sino gnssK803 OEM product is undertaken to explore the potential of the low-cost devices for sensing the ionosphere. The housing and operation firmware of the low-cost receiver were developed by Cloudwater Ltd. A measurement campaign for several days characterized by quiet and disturbed geomagnetic conditions, was undertaken in order to investigate the signal strength and total electron content (TEC) estimation. A GNSS signal splitter was connected with the two receivers under test and all data were recorded with a Leica AR20 choke ring antenna at Klirou (35°N, 33.2°E) which is about 25 Km SW from Nicosia in Cyprus.