Ionospheric Scintillation Effects on GPS in the Equatorial and Auroral Regions

Doherty, Patricia H.; Delay, S. H.; Valladares, C. E.; Klobuchar, J. A.

doi:10.1002/j.2161-4296.2003.tb00332.x

Cited by 93 publications

(104 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…This is particularly the case at GPS frequencies, when amplitude scintillation may be completely absent in the presence of phase scintillation (Basu et al, 1998;Doherty et al, 2000;Li et al, 2010). This is sometimes attributed to improper detrending of GPS data as already mentioned at the end of Sect.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 81%

Climatology of GPS phase scintillation and HF radar backscatter for the high-latitude ionosphere under solar minimum conditions

et al. 2011

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Abstract. Maps of GPS phase scintillation at high latitudes have been constructed after the first two years of operation of the Canadian High Arctic Ionospheric Network (CHAIN) during the 2008-2009 solar minimum. CHAIN consists of ten dual-frequency receivers, configured to measure amplitude and phase scintillation from L1 GPS signals and ionospheric total electron content (TEC) from L1 and L2 GPS signals. Those ionospheric data have been mapped as a function of magnetic local time and geomagnetic latitude assuming ionospheric pierce points (IPPs) at 350 km. The mean TEC depletions are identified with the statistical high-latitude and mid-latitude troughs. Phase scintillation occurs predominantly in the nightside auroral oval and the ionospheric footprint of the cusp. The strongest phase scintillation is associated with auroral arc brightening and substorms or with perturbed cusp ionosphere. Auroral phase scintillation tends to be intermittent, localized and of short duration, while the dayside scintillation observed for individual satellites can stay continuously above a given threshold for several minutes and such scintillation patches persist over a large area of the cusp/cleft region sampled by different satellites for several hours. The seasonal variation of the phase scintillation occurrence also differs between the nightside auroral oval and the cusp. The auroral phase scintillation shows an expected semiannual oscillation with equinoctial maxima known to be associated with aurorae, while the cusp scintillation is dominated by an annual cycle maximizing in autumn-winter. These differences point to different irregularity production mechanisms: energetic electron precipitation into dynamic auroral arcs versus cusp ionospheric convection dynamics. Observations suggest anisotropy of scintillationcausing irregularities with stronger L-shell alignment of irregularities in the cusp while a significant component of Correspondence to: P. Prikryl (paul.prikryl@crc.gc.ca) field-aligned irregularities is found in the nightside auroral oval. Scintillation-causing irregularities can coexist with small-scale field-aligned irregularities resulting in HF radar backscatter. The statistical cusp and auroral oval are characterized by the occurrence of HF radar ionospheric backscatter and mean ground magnetic perturbations due to ionospheric currents.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 81%

Climatology of GPS phase scintillation and HF radar backscatter for the high-latitude ionosphere under solar minimum conditions

et al. 2011

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“…Using simultaneous rocket and ionosonde (37.95 • N, 284.53 • E, dip lat. 48.5 • N) measurements, Earle et al (2010) found that the ionosonde detected a mix of range and frequency type spread F during the flight of the rocket, but no significant plasma density structures smaller than a few kilometers were observed in the rocket data. This indicates that the mid-latitude mixed-type spread F only comprises kilometer-scale (without 400 m) irregularities.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 89%

“…The observation indicates that the June solstitial mixed-type spread F is different from that observed during equinoctial months over Sanya. Chakraborty et al (2012) reported that the mid-latitude spread F was mostly of frequency or mixedtype, which could cause VHF scintillation but no GHz scintillation during magnetically disturbed time (Ledvina et al, 2002;Doherty et al, 2003). Using simultaneous rocket and ionosonde (37.95 • N, 284.53 • E, dip lat.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A comparative study of GPS ionospheric scintillations and ionogram spread F over Sanya

Zhang

Wan

et al. 2015

Ann. Geophys.

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Abstract. We analyze the data recorded during December 2011-November 2012 by a digital ionosonde and a GPS (Global Positioning System) scintillation and (total electron content) TEC receiver collocated at Sanya (109.6 • E, 18.3 • N; dip lat. 12.8 • N), a low-latitude station in the Chinese longitude sector, to carry out a comparative study of ionospheric scintillations and spread F. A good consistency between the temporal variations of GPS scintillation (represented by the S4 index) and of ionogram spread F (represented by the QF index) is found in the pre-midnight period during equinox. However in the post-midnight period during equinox and in the period from post-sunset to presunrise during June solstice, moderate spread F is seen without concurrent GPS scintillation. The possible cause responsible for the difference between post-midnight GPS scintillation and spread F during equinox could be due to the decaying of 400 m scale irregularities associated with equatorial spread F. Regarding the irregularities producing moderate QF and low S4 indices during June solstice, we suggest that the frequently observed sporadic E (Es) layer and the medium-scale traveling ionospheric disturbances (MSTIDs) over Sanya could play important roles in triggering the June solstitial spread-F events.

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“…Geomagnetic activity is often used as a convenient proxy to characterize the ionospheric conditions and a clear dependence of temporal and spatial variability of TEC on ionospheric activity has been demonstrated (e.g., Skone et al, 1998). Although scintillation is most intense at low latitudes (Aarons, 1982;Basu et al, 2002) it can be strong in high latitudes during disturbed conditions (Doherty et al, 2004). The high-latitude plasma structure associated with auroral and F-region polar cap patches and sun-aligned arcs is a source of scintillation that has been observed at UHF frequencies (Basu et al, 1987;MacDougall, 1990;Coker et al, 2004).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

GPS TEC, scintillation and cycle slips observed at high latitudes during solar minimum

et al. 2010

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Abstract. High-latitude irregularities can impair the operation of GPS-based devices by causing fluctuations of GPS signal amplitude and phase, also known as scintillation. Severe scintillation events lead to losses of phase lock, which result in cycle slips. We have used data from the Canadian High Arctic Ionospheric Network (CHAIN) to measure amplitude and phase scintillation from L1 GPS signals and total electron content (TEC) from L1 and L2 GPS signals to study the relative role that various high-latitude irregularity generation mechanisms have in producing scintillation. In the first year of operation during the current solar minimum the amplitude scintillation has remained very low but events of strong phase scintillation have been observed. We have found, as expected, that auroral arc and substorm intensifications as well as cusp region dynamics are strong sources of phase scintillation and potential cycle slips. In addition, we have found clear seasonal and universal time dependencies of TEC and phase scintillation over the polar cap region. A comparison with radio instruments from the Canadian GeoSpace Monitoring (CGSM) network strongly suggests that the polar cap scintillation and TEC variations are associated with polar cap patches which we therefore infer to be main contributors to scintillation-causing irregularities in the polar cap.

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Ionospheric Scintillation Effects on GPS in the Equatorial and Auroral Regions

Cited by 93 publications

References 8 publications

Climatology of GPS phase scintillation and HF radar backscatter for the high-latitude ionosphere under solar minimum conditions

Climatology of GPS phase scintillation and HF radar backscatter for the high-latitude ionosphere under solar minimum conditions

A comparative study of GPS ionospheric scintillations and ionogram spread F over Sanya

GPS TEC, scintillation and cycle slips observed at high latitudes during solar minimum

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