Assessment of precision in ionospheric electron density profiles retrieved by GPS radio occultations

The Constellation Observing System for Meteorology Ionosphere and Climate (COSMIC) is a six satellite radio occultation mission that was launched in April 2006. The close proximity of these satellites during some months after launch provides a unique opportunity to evaluate the precision of Global Positioning System (GPS) radio occultation (RO) retrievals of ionospheric electron density from nearly collocated and simultaneous observations. RO data from 30 consecutive days during July and August 2006 are divided into ten groups in terms of daytime or nighttime and latitude. In all cases, the best precision values (about 1%) are found at the F peak height and they slightly degrade upwards. For all daytime groups, it is seen that electron density profiles above about 120 km height exhibit a substantial improvement in precision. Nighttime groups are rather diverse: in particular, the precision becomes better than 10% above different levels between 120 and 200 km height. Our overall results show that up to 100–200 km (depending on each group), the uncertainty associated with the precision is in the order of the measured electron density values. Even worse, the retrieved values tend sometimes to be negative. Although we cannot rely directly on electron density values at these altitudes, the shape of the profiles could be indicative of some ionospheric features (e.g. waves and sporadic E layers). Above 200 km, the profiles of precision are qualitatively quite independent from daytime or latitude. From all the nearly collocated pairs studied, only 49 exhibited a difference between line of sight angles of both RO at the F peak height larger than 10°. After analyzing them we find no clear indications of a significant representativeness error in electron density profiles due to the spherical assumption above 120 km height. Differences in precision between setting and rising GPS RO may be attributed to the modification of the processing algorithms applied to rising cases during the initial period of the COSMIC mission.     

Coordinated in situ measurements of plasma irregularities and ground based scintillation observations at the crest of equatorial anomaly

First comparison of in situ density fluctuations measured by the DEMETER satellite with ground based GPS receiver measurements at the equatorial anomaly station Bhopal (geographic coordinates (23.2°N, 77.6°E); geomagnetic coordinates (14.29°N, 151.12°E)) for the low solar activity year 2005, are presented in this paper. Calculation of the diurnal maximum of the strength of the equatorial electrojet, which can serve as precursor to ionospheric scintillations in the anomaly region is also done. The Langmuir Probe experiment and Plasma Analyzer onboard DEMETER measure the electron and ion densities respectively. Irregularities in electron density distribution cause scintillations on transionospheric links and there exists a close relationship between an irregularity and scintillation. In 40% of the cases, DEMETER detects the irregularity structures (dNe/Ne ? 5% and dNi/Ni (O⁺) ? 5%) and GPS L band scintillations (S4 ? 0.2) are also observed around the same time, for the low solar activity period. It is found that maximum irregularity intensity is obtained in the geomagnetic latitude range of 10–20° for both electron density and ion density. As the GPS signals pass through this irregularity structure, scintillations are recorded by the GPS receiver installed at the equatorial anomaly station, Bhopal it is interesting to note that in situ density fluctuations observed on magnetic flux tubes that pass over Bhopal can be used as indicator of ionospheric scintillations at that site. Many cases of density fluctuations and associated scintillations have been observed during the descending low solar activity period. The percentage occurrence of density irregularities and scintillations shows good correspondence with diurnal maximum of the strength of electrojet, however this varies with different seasons with maximum correspondence in summer (up to 66%) followed by equinox (up to 50%) and winter (up to 46%). Also, there is a threshold value of EEJ strength to produce density irregularities ((dNe/Ne)_max ? 5%) and for moderate to strong scintillations (S4 ? 0.3) to occur. For winter this value is found to be ∼40 nT whereas for equinox and summer it is around 50 nT.     

Atmosphere sounding by GPS radio occultation: First results from TanDEM-X and comparison with TerraSAR-X

On 21 June 2010 the TerraSAR-X satellite was joined by the TanDEM-X satellite. A Global Positioning System (GPS) radio occultation (RO) experiment using the twin satellites has been carried out to estimate the precision of GPS atmospheric soundings. For the Day Of Year (DOY) 330–336, 2011, we analyze phase and amplitude data recorded by GPS receivers separated by a few hundred meters in a low earth orbit and derive collocated atmospheric refractivity profiles. In the altitude range 10–20 km the standard deviation between TerraSAR-X and TanDEM-X refractivity does not exceed 0.15%. The standard deviation is rapidly increasing for lower and higher altitudes; close to the surface and at an altitude of 30 km the standard deviation reaches 0.8% and 0.5%, respectively. Systematic deviations between TerraSAR-X and TanDEM-X refractivity in the considered altitude range (0–30 km) are negligible. The results confirm the anticipated high precision of the GPS RO technique. However, the difference in the retrieved refractivity in the lower troposphere for different Open Loop (OL) signal tracking parameters, altered onboard TanDEM-X for DOY 49–55, 2012, calls for an in depth analysis. At the moment we can not exclude that a potential bias in the OL Doppler model introduces a bias in our retrieved refractivity at altitudes <8$<8$ km.     

Investigation of ionospheric response to two moderate geomagnetic storms using GPS–TEC measurements in the South American and African sectors during the ascending phase of solar cycle 24

The responses of the ionospheric F region using GPS–TEC measurements during two moderate geomagnetic storms at equatorial, low-, and mid-latitude regions over the South American and African sectors in May 2010, during the ascending phase of solar cycle 24, are investigated. The first moderate geomagnetic storm studied reached a minimum Dst value of −64 nT at 1500 UT on 02 May 2010 and the second moderate geomagnetic storm reached a minimum Dst value of −85 nT at 1400 UT on 29 May 2010. In this paper, we present vertical total electron content (VTEC) and phase fluctuations (in TECU/min) from Global Positioning System (GPS) observations from the equatorial to mid-latitude regions in the South American and African sectors. Our results obtained during these two moderate geomagnetic storms from both sectors show significant positive ionospheric storms during daytime hours at the equatorial, low-, and mid-latitude regions during the main and recovery phases of the storms. The thermospheric wind circulation change towards the equator is a strong indicator that suggests an important mechanism is responsible for these positive phases at these regions. A pre-storm event that was observed in the African sector from low- to the mid-latitude regions on 01 May 2010 was absent in the South American sector. This study also showed that there was no generation or suppression of ionospheric irregularities by storm events. Therefore, knowledge about the suppression and generation of ionospheric irregularities during moderate geomagnetic storms is still unclear.     

载波相位辅助的GPS动态单点定位算法综述

对载波相位辅助条件下应用于全球定位系统（Global Positioning System,GPS）动态单点定位的各种算法进行了综合分析与比较。首先简要介绍定位算法中的基本公式与观测模型;然后分别对周跳修复与滤波解算两部分所应用的各种算法进行详细介绍并比较其性能与适用范围;最后对尚待解决的问题及可能的发展方向进行了总结。     

GPS和GLONASS广播星历参数分析及算法

GPS和GLONASS作为当今世界上在轨运行的两大卫星导航系统,其广播星历参数的设计和算法各具特点。本文探讨了GPS和GLONASS广播星历参数设计的物理背景,对它们各自的特征进行了分析比较,最后文章给出了GPS广播星历参数的一种拟合算法。     

基于渐消卡尔曼滤波器的定位系统设计

针对无人机捷联式惯性导航系统(Strap-down inertial navigation system,SINS)定位精度低、全球卫星定位系统(Global position system,GPS)定位的非自主性,建立了一种无人机SINS/GPS定位信息融合系统。采用渐消Kalman滤波技术,有效防止了SINS/GPS组合导航系统的滤波发散。采用自适应运算法则,从理论上证明了渐消卡尔曼滤波器的稳定性,得到了滤波器稳定要求的新的条件,与以往研究比较,条件更为宽泛。分别进行了SINS/GPS常规卡尔曼滤波仿真和渐消卡尔曼滤波仿真,结果表明:采用渐消卡尔曼滤波技术在工程实践上可以有效提高无人机的导航定位精度,并且易于工程实现。     

小步长低阶Collocation方法轨道积分性能研究

介绍了Collocation方法的原理及误差构成,以Collocation方法在逐历元滤波轨道解算中的应用为切入点对小步长低阶Collocation方法轨道积分的性能进行了研究。分别就二体问题及真实GPS星座卫星轨道为对象进行了一系列验算,得到了一些有益结论：就积分方法本身性能而言,Collocation积分方法较传统数值积分法精度要高且稳定性要好;在一定长度的积分步长范围内,将小步长低阶Collocation方法用于滤波轨道解算是可行且有效的。 但在积分步长很小的情形下,从计算效率方面考虑,不推荐使用Collocation方法;利用小步长低阶Collocation方法取代大步长高阶方法能提高效率且可抑制蚀现象引起的积分结果发散。经试验表明：选用积分步长为900s的4阶方法是合适的。     

基于星载毫米波顺轨-交轨InISAR的空间运动目标三维成像技术研究

研究了低信噪比情况下的星载毫米波顺轨/交轨In\|ISAR空间目标三维成像问题。由于传统的RD成像算法在目标尺寸较大和分辨率要求较高时不能取得较好的成像效果,故将波数域成像算法引入运动目标成像处理以获得高分辨率的二维图像,继而将顺轨/交轨三天线ISAR图像分别进行干涉处理,获得了目标上各散射点的三维位置。作为二维成像、图像配准等重要环节的基础参数,对低信噪比下的目标检测和三维运动参数估计进行了研究,分析了速度估计精度要求。最后,仿真结果表明了顺轨/交轨In-ISAR系统的有效性。     

导航解算中的有色噪声及其协方差矩阵自适应拟合

使用Kalman滤波进行动态导航定位解算需要涉及函数模型和随机模型, 而在实际应用中, 精确的函数模型和随机模型很难直接给出, 因此, 动态Kalman滤波的精度和可靠性将会受到函数模型误差和随机模型误差的影响. 在假设观测噪声和动力学模型噪声主要是具有一阶自相关特性的有色噪声的基础上, 提出了一种基于移动窗口的有色噪声函数模型和随机模型的自适应拟合法. 给出了计算有色噪声估值和噪声协方差矩阵的表达式, 并利用实测数据验证了模型及算法的可行性和实用性. 计算结果表明, 该算法能有效抵制有色噪声对导航滤波结果的影响.