A global survey of COSMIC ionospheric peak electron density and its height: A comparison with ground-based ionosonde measurements

With a network of ground-based ionosondes distributed around the world, the ionospheric peak electron density and its height measured by FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC satellites in terms of GPS radio occultation technique are extensively examined in this article. It is found that, in spite of the latitude, the mean values of the peak electron density measured by COSMIC satellites are systematically smaller than those observed by ground-based ionosondes. The discrepancy between them is dependent on the latitude, namely, it is small in low and mid-latitudes and large in high-latitude region. Moreover, statistical analysis shows that the slopes of the regression line that is best fitted to the scatter diagram of occultation-retrieved peak electron density (ordinate axis) versus ionosonde-observed peak density (abscissa axis) are universally less than one. This feature is believed to be the result of path average effect of non-uniform distribution of the electron density along the GSP ray during the occultation. A comparison between COSMIC-measured peak height and ionosonde-derived peak height hmF2 indicates that the former is systematically higher than the latter. The difference in the two can be as large as 20% or more in equatorial and low-latitude regions. This result implies that the peak height hmF2 derived from the virtual height through true height analysis based on Titheridge method seems to underestimate the true peak height. The correlation between COSMIC and ionosonde peak electron densities is analyzed and the result reveals that correlation coefficient seems to be dependent on the fluctuation of the occultation-retrieved electron density profile. The correlation will be higher (lower) for the electron density profiles with smaller (larger) fluctuations. This feature suggests that the inhomogeneous distribution of the electron density along the GPS ray path during the occultation plays an important role affecting the correlation between COSMIC and ionosonde measurements.     

Response of the EIA ionosphere to the 7-8 May 2005 geomagnetic storm

In this paper, response of low latitude ionosphere to a moderate geomagnetic storm of 7–8 May 2005 (SSC: 1920 UT on 7 May with Sym-H minimum, ∼−112 nT around 1600 UT on 8 May) has been investigated using the GPS measurements from a near EIA crest region, Rajkot (Geog. 22.29°N, 70.74°E, Geomag.14°), India. We found a decrease in total electron content (TEC) in 12 h after the onset of the storm, an increase during and after 6 h of Sym-H deep minimum with a decrease below its usual-day level on the second day during the recovery phase of the storm. On 8 May, an increase of TEC is observed after sunset and during post-midnight hours (maximum up to 170%) with the formation of ionospheric plasma bubbles followed by a nearly simultaneous onset of scintillations at L-band frequencies following the time of rapid decrease in Sym-H index (−30 nT/h around 1300 UT).     

Dynamical evolution of high area-to-mass ratio debris released into GPS orbits

A large set of simulations, including all the relevant perturbations, was carried out to investigate the long-term dynamical evolution of fictitious high area-to-mass ratio (A/M) objects released, with a negligible velocity variation, in each of the six orbital planes used by Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites. As with similar objects discovered in near synchronous trajectories, long lifetime orbits, with mean motions of about 2 revolutions per day, were found possible for debris characterized by extremely high area-to-mass ratios. Often the lifetime exceeds 100 years up to A/M ∼ 45 m²/kg, decreasing rapidly to a few months above such a threshold. However, the details of the evolution, which are conditioned by the complex interplay of solar radiation pressure and geopotential plus luni-solar resonances, depend on the initial conditions. Different behaviors are thus possible. In any case, objects like those discovered in synchronous orbits, with A/M as high as 20–40 m²/kg, could also survive in this orbital regime, with semi-major axes close to the semi-synchronous values, with maximum eccentricities between 0.3 and 0.7, and with significant orbit pole precessions (faster and wider for increasing values of A/M), leading to inclinations between 30° and more than 90°.     

一种GPS定位信息可用性的实时判定方法

基于GPS接收机输出数据,采用3级AR模型来预测下一时刻的GPS输出值,并与实际的输出值相比较,以一定的检测门限,判断当前时刻定位信息的可用性。通过仿真证明该方法的有效性,为GPS的可用性判定提供了一种方法。     

通用机场机坪运行安全风险评估方法研究

传统机场机坪运行评价方法在确定指标权重方面存在不足,而模糊评价法在确定隶属度时主观判断较多。结合通用机场机坪运行特点建立评价指标体系,采用变权和相对差异函数的方法对通用机场机坪运行安全风险进行评估。首先运用变权理论对各评价指标的常权进行调整,体现单个指标对评价结果的影响;然后利用相对差异函数确定单因素对各安全等级的隶属...     

基于DSP和FPGA的GPS伪随机码并行快速捕获方案设计

讨论了高动态下GPS伪随机码并行搜索的基本原理,以及自适应门限确定方法与搜索过程中应注意的问题。提出了一种基于高速DSP和FPGA的全数字解扩接收机方案,阐述了工作流程,并给出了系统的结构框图,经测试验证实现了伪随机码并行快速捕获的功能。     

转发式干扰下GPS定位精度的仿真分析

根据GPS转发式干扰的原理,建立了转发式干扰对GPS定位精度影响的数学模型.讨论了两种转发式干扰模式对定位的影响.最后通过计算机仿真分析得出了GPS转发式干扰对GPS定位精度影响的相关结论.     

基于GPS载波相位的微卫星姿态算法研究

GPS姿态系统是利用GPS载波相位测量来确定载体的航向和姿态角。本文对微卫星的GPS姿态系统进行了研究。重点解决短基线的GPS状态算法，讨论了姿态价格函数的了小化方法。测试结果表明，所提的算法对小于1m的基线是有效的。     

一种新型综合性靶场安全系统及其检验测试结果

本文首先简要介绍战略导弹发射场和航天发射场靶场安全系统的作用、特点、主要技术要求,接着介绍按美国空军航天司令部要求,由空军研究所开发的基于GPS弹道测量技术,外测、遥测、遥控综合为一体的机动型靶场安全系统——BMRST的构成及其经多种检验测试的结果。     

GPS/INS超紧组合载波跟踪环路最优带宽在线设计

在全球定位系统和惯性导航系统组成的超紧耦合系统中,卫星信号的跟踪性能直接取决于载波跟踪环路的带宽。为提高最优带宽的计算精度,在对惯导辅助下载波跟踪环路跟踪特性进行分析的基础上,详细推导了载波多普勒频率估计误差、多普勒频率变化率估计误差的计算方式,建立了惯导辅助下的环路跟踪误差模型;在实时估计跟踪载噪比的基础上,应用离散牛顿二阶梯度法迭代解算最优带宽,并进行实时调整。仿真结果表明,所设计最优带宽迭代解算方法的计算精度能够在11次迭代内达到99.6%,以此作为环路的带宽,能够在弱信号、辅助信息精度较低的情况下有效提高环路的跟踪精度。