Variability of the ionospheric electron density at fixed heights and validation of IRI-2007 profile’s prediction at Ilorin

A study on the variability of the equatorial ionospheric electron density was carried out at fixed heights below the F2 peak using one month data for each of high and low solar activity periods. The data used for this study were obtained from ionograms recorded at Ilorin, Nigeria, and the study covers height range from 100 km to the peak of the F2 layer for the daytime hours and height range from 200 km to the peak of the F2 layer for the nighttime hours. The results showed that the deviation of the electron density variation from simple Chapman variation begins from an altitude of about 200 km for the two months investigated. Daytime minimum variability of between 2.7% and 9.0% was observed at the height range of about 160 and 200 km during low solar activity (January 2006) and between 3.7% and 7.8% at the height range of 210 and 260 km during high solar activity (January 2002). The nighttime maximum variability was observed at the height range of 210 and 240 km at low solar activity and at the height range of 200 and 240 km at high solar activity. A validation of IRI-2007 model electron density profile’s prediction was also carried out. The results showed that B0 option gives a better prediction around the noontime.     

Total electron content variations in equatorial anomaly region

Diurnal variations in the total electron content (TEC) at Makerere University (00°19′N, 32°40′E, Geo Dip −22°), Uganda, have been investigated using a NovAtel GSV400B GPS receiver for the year 2010. The highest TEC values occurred from 13h00 to 17h00 local time (LT) throughout the year, with the highest values being exhibited during equinoctial months. In addition, there was some correlation between this high TEC and the moderate storms that occurred in 2010. These high TEC values have been attributed to the solar EUV ionization coupled with the upward vertical ExB drift. Nighttime enhancements were also found to be seasonally dependant, attaining maximum values during equinoctial months. These results were also compared with modeled TEC values by the IRI-2007 model. The modeled values were in good agreement with the measured values except for these two points: (1) the model had a short-fall in predicting the nighttime enhancements; and (2) the model’s minimum TEC did not coincide with the measured minimum in most of the months. Observed TEC depletions were found to correlate with an increase in the S₄ index and have been identified as a manifestation of the plasma density depletions of the equatorial origin.     

Local ionospheric electron density profile reconstruction in real time from simultaneous ground-based GNSS and ionosonde measurements

The purpose of the LIEDR (local ionospheric electron density profile reconstruction) system is to acquire and process data from simultaneous ground-based total electron content (TEC) and digital ionosonde measurements, and subsequently to deduce the vertical electron density distribution above the ionosonde’s location. LIEDR is primarily designed to operate in real time for service applications and, for research applications and further development of the system, in a post-processing mode. The system is suitable for use at sites where collocated TEC and digital ionosonde measurements are available. Developments, implementations, and some preliminary results are presented and discussed in view of possible applications.     

GNSS single frequency ionospheric range delay corrections: NeQuick data ingestion technique

A study of the performance of the NeQuick model and the Klobuchar model for GNSS single frequency range delay correction on a global scale was done using data for moderate solar activity. In this study NeQuick was used in the way intended for Galileo. This study is to assess the performance of the two models at each ionospheric geographic region during moderate solar activity as previously published studies were concentrated only on high solar activity. The results obtained showed that NeQuick outperformed Klobuchar for the whole year at the three geographical regions of the ionosphere. In terms of monthly root mean square of mismodeling, NeQuick outperformed Klobuchar by 15 TECU or more at low-latitudes, 5 TEC or more at mid-latitudes, and 1 TECU or more at high-latitudes.     

Prediction of ionospheric total electron content using adaptive neural network with in-situ learning algorithm

The Ionospheric Total Electron Content is responsible for the group delay of the signals from the Navigation satellites. This delay causes ranging error, which in turn degrades the accuracy of position estimated by the receivers. For critical applications, single frequency receivers resort to Satellite Based Augmentation Systems in order to have improved accuracy and integrity. The performance of these systems in terms of accuracy can be improved if predictions of the delays are available simultaneously with real measurements. This paper attempts to predict the Total Electron Content using adaptive recurrent Neural Network at three different locations of India. These locations are selected at the magnetic equator, at the equatorial anomaly crest and outside the anomaly range, respectively. In-situ Learning Algorithm has been used for tracking the non-stationary nature of the variation. Prediction is done for different prediction intervals. It is observed that, for each case, the mean and root mean square values of prediction errors remain small enough for all practical applications. Analysis of Variance is also done on the results.     

A new ionospheric tomography model combining pixel-based and function-based models

Considering the limitations of current single pixel-based and function-based computerized ionospheric tomography (CIT) models, this paper proposes a new tomography model – COMBI, which combines these two models. COMBI model is able to reconstruct the three dimensional distribution of electron density with fewer parameters, and easy to compute, as well as very convenient to use. Through experiments with simulated data and measured data, it is verified that the new COMBI model not only can better describe refine structure of ionospheric electron density, but also is superior to these two pixel-based and function-based CIT models in application.     

The impact of large solar events on the total electron content of the ionosphere at mid latitudes

Ionospheric disturbances associated with solar activity may occur via two basic mechanisms. The first is related to the direct impact on the ionosphere of EUV photons from a flare, and the second by prompt electric field penetration into the magnetosphere during geomagnetic storms. In this paper we examine the possibility that these two mechanisms may have an impact at mid latitudes by calculating the total electron content (TEC) from GPS stations in Mexico during several large X-ray flares. We have found that indeed large, complex flares, which are well located, may affect the mid latitude ionosphere. In fact, in the solar events of July 14, 2000 and April 2001 storms, ionospheric disturbances were observed to increase up to 138 and 150 TECu, respectively, due to the influence of EUV photons. Also, during the solar events of July 2000, April 2001, Halloween 2003, January 2005 and December 2006, there are large ionospheric disturbances (up to 393 TECu in the Halloween Storms), due to prompt penetration electric field, associated with CME producing geomagnetic storm.     

Impact of heliogeophysical disturbances on ionospheric HF channels

The article presents the results of the observation of a strong magnetic storm and two X-ray flares during the summer solstice in 2015, and their impact on the HF signals characteristics in ionospheric oblique sounding. It was found that the negative phase of the magnetic storm led to a strong degradation of the ionospheric channel, ultimately causing a long blackout on paths adjacent to subauroral latitudes. On mid-latitude paths, the decrease in 1FMOF reached ～50% relative to the average values for the quiet ionosphere. It is shown that the propagation conditions via the sporadic Es layer during the magnetic storm on a subauroral path are substantially better than those for F-mode propagation via the upper ionosphere. The delay of the sharp decrease in 1FMOF during the main phase of the magnetic storm allowed us to determine the propagation velocity of the negative phase disturbances (～100 m/s) from subauroral to mid-latitude ionosphere along two paths: Lovozero – Yoshkar-Ola and Cyprus – Nizhny Novgorod. It is shown that both the LOF and the signal/noise ratio averaged over the frequency band corresponding to the propagation mode via the sporadic Es layer correlate well with the auroral AE index. Using an over-the-horizon chirp radar with a bistatic configuration on the Cyprus – Rostov-on-Don path, we located small-scale scattering irregularities responsible for abnormal signals in the region of the equatorial boundary of the auroral oval.     

Variation of ionospheric total electron content in Taiwan region of the equatorial anomaly from 1994 to 2003

The ionospheric total electron content (TEC) in the northern hemispheric equatorial ionospheric anomaly (EIA) region is studied by analyzing dual-frequency signals of the Global Position System (GPS) acquired from a chain of nine observational sites clustered around Taiwan (21.9–26.2°N, 118.4–112.6°E). In this study, we present results from a statistical study of seasonal and geomagnetic effects on the EIA during solar cycle 23: 1994–2003. It is found that TEC at equatorial anomaly crests yield their maximum values during the vernal and autumnal months and their minimum values during the summer (except 1998). Using monthly averaged I_c (magnitude of TEC at the northern anomaly crest), semi-annual variations is seen clearly with two maxima occurring in both spring and autumn. In addition, I_c is found to be greater in winter than in summer. Statistically monthly values of I_c were poorly correlated with the monthly Dst index (r = −0.22) but were well correlated with the solar emission F_10.7 index (r = 0.87) for the entire database for the period during 1994–2003. In contrast, monthly values of I_c were correlated better with Dst (r ? 0.72) than with F_10.7 (r ? 0.56) in every year during the low solar activity period (1994–1997). It suggests that the effect of solar activity on I_c is a longer term (years), whereas the effect of geomagnetic activity on I_c is a shorter term (months).     

The relationship between ionospheric total electron content (TEC) over East Asia and the tropospheric circulation around the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau obtained with a partial correlation method

This paper reports a study on the relationship between ionospheric total electron content (TEC) over East Asia and the tropospheric circulation around the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Ionospheric TEC over East Asia are obtained from 25 observatories during 1996–2004. By applying a partial correlation method which can eliminate the influences of solar and geomagnetic activities, we find no significant correlation between TEC and the Asian zonal circulation index (Iz), but find a positive correlation between the day-to-day variability of TEC and Iz. We suggest that the positive correlation is closely related with the topography of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The dynamical effect on airflow of the plateau can generate vortexes, and the vortexes may continuously excite internal gravity waves (IGWs) which transmit up to the ionosphere and cause regional wave disturbances. This study gives evidence for the dynamical mechanism of ionosphere–troposphere coupling and shows the importance of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in the ionosphere–troposphere coupling over East Asia.     

Regional 4-D modeling of the ionospheric electron density

The knowledge of the electron density is the key point in correcting ionospheric delays of electromagnetic measurements and in studying the ionosphere. During the last decade GNSS, in particular GPS, has become a promising tool for monitoring the total electron content (TEC), i.e., the integral of the electron density along the ray-path between the transmitting satellite and the receiver. Hence, geometry-free GNSS measurements provide informations on the electron density, which is basically a four-dimensional function depending on spatial position and time. In addition, these GNSS measurements can be combined with other available data including nadir, over-ocean TEC observations from dual-frequency radar altimetry (T/P, JASON, ENVISAT), and TECs from GPS-LEO occultation systems (e.g., FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC, CHAMP) with heterogeneous sampling and accuracy.     

The effect of total solar eclipse of October 3, 2005, on the total electron content over Europe

GPS observations from EUREF permanent GPS network were used to observe the response of TEC (Total Electron Content) to the total solar eclipse on October 3, 2005, under quiet geomagnetic conditions of the daytime ionosphere. The effect of the eclipse was detected in diurnal variations and more distinctly in the variations of TEC along individual satellite passes. The trough-like variations with a gradual decrease and followed by an increase of TEC at the time of the eclipse were observed over a large region. The depression of TEC amounted to 3–4 TECU. The maximum depression was observed over all stations located at the maximum path of the solar eclipse. The delay of a minimum level of TEC with respect to the maximum phase of the eclipse was about 20–30 min.     

Ionospheric electron density over Resolute Bay according to E-CHAIM model and RISR radar measurements

In this study, predictions of the E-CHAIM ionospheric model are compared with measurements by the incoherent scatter radars RISR at Resolute Bay, Canada, in the northern polar cap. Reasonable coverage was available for all seasons except winter for which no conclusions were drawn. It is shown that ratios of the model-to measured electron densities are close to unity in the central part of the F layer, around its peak. This is particularly evident for summer daytime. Distributions of the ratios are wider for other seasons indicating larger number of cases when the model underestimates or overestimates. E-CHAIM underestimates the electron density at ionospheric topside and bottomside by ～ 10–20 %. At the bottomside, the underestimations are strongest in summer and equinoctial nighttime. At the topside, the underestimations are strongest in autumn nighttime. Model overestimations are noticeable in the middle part of the F layer during dawn hours in autumn. Overall, the model tends to not predict highest-observed peak electron densities and the largest-observed heights of the peak.     

An annual variation analysis of the ionospheric spatial gradient over a regional area for GNSS applications

An ionospheric spatial gradient represents the ionosphere delay difference between different locations, and its variation over a specific area is important for implementing differential GNSS systems. An estimation method for the ionospheric spatial gradient over a small regional area is proposed. A plate map model is implemented for the direct estimation of the gradients. Nine years of GPS data were processed to figure out the annual variation of the mean gradient at the mid-geomagnetic latitude of 30° N. Gradients along the north–south direction have a mean of 0.65 mm/km and follow solar-cycle variations.     

ULF/ELF ionospheric electric field and plasma perturbations related to Chile earthquakes

ULF/ELF electric field perturbations in the ionosphere have been widely observed by the satellites. In this paper, we develop a method of Logarithm Electric Field Intensity (LEFI) to automatically distinguish this kind of disturbances based on the spectrum intensity and its damping exponent with frequency in electromagnetic signals. This method is applied to DEMETER data processing around Chile earthquakes with magnitude larger than 6.0. It is found that 2/3 earthquakes have shown obvious ULF/ELF electric field perturbations in this region. The temporal and spatial distributions of electron density and temperature were compared with that of electric field, which proved the existence of irregularities above epicentral area. Finally, the coupling mechanism of earthquake-ionosphere is discussed based on multi-parameter analysis.     

Application of hybrid regularization method for tomographic reconstruction of midlatitude ionospheric electron density

Reconstructing ionospheric electron density (IED) is an ill-posed inverse problem, with classical Tikhonov regularization tending to smooth IED structures. By contrast, total variation (TV) regularization effectively resists noise and preserves discontinuities of the IED. In this paper, we regularize the inverse problem by incorporating both Tikhonov and TV regularization. A specific formulation of the proposed method, called hybrid regularization, is introduced and investigated. The method is then tested using simulated data for the actual positions of the GPS satellites and ground receivers, and also applied to the analysis of real observation data under quiescent and disturbed ionospheric conditions. Experiments demonstrate the effectiveness, and illustrate the validity and reliability of the proposed method.     

Variability study of ionospheric total electron content at crest of equatorial anomaly in China from 1997 to 2007

The variation of TEC data at Wuhan station (geographic coordinate: 30.5°N, 114.4°E; geomagnetic coordinate: 19.2°N, 183.8°E) at crest of equatorial anomaly in China from January 1997 to December 2007 were analyzed. Variability with solar activity, annual, semiannual, diurnal and seasonal variation were also analyzed. The MSIS00 model and ISR model were used to analyze the possible mechanisms of the variabilities found in the results. The TEC data in 1997 and 2001 deduced from another crest station Xiamen (geographic coordinate: 24.4°N, 118.1°E; geomagnetic coordinate: 13.2°N, 187.4°E) were used to contrast. Analysis results show that long-term variations of TEC at Xiamen station are mainly controlled by the variations of solar activities. Typical diurnal variation behaves as a minimum of the TEC in the pre-dawn hours around 05:00–06:00LT and a maximum on the afternoon hours around 13:00–15:00LT. Some features like the semiannual anomaly and winter anomaly in TEC have been reported. The anomaly may be the result of common action of the electric field over the magnetic equatorial and the [O/N₂] at the crest station.     

Evaluation of COMPASS ionospheric model in GNSS positioning

As important products of GNSS navigation message, ionospheric delay model parameters are broadcasted for single-frequency users to improve their positioning accuracy. GPS provides daily Klobuchar ionospheric model parameters based on geomagnetic reference frame, while the regional satellite navigation system of China’s COMPASS broadcasts an eight-parameter ionospheric model, COMPASS Ionospheric Model(CIM), which was generated by processing data from continuous monitoring stations, with updating the parameters every 2 h. To evaluate its performance, CIM predictions are compared to ionospheric delay measurements, along with GPS positioning accuracy comparisons. Real observed data analysis indicates that CIM provides higher correction precision in middle-latitude regions, but relatively lower correction precision for low-latitude regions where the ionosphere has much higher variability. CIM errors for some users show a common bias for in-coming COMPASS signals from different satellites, and hence ionospheric model errors are somehow translated into the receivers’ clock error estimation. In addition, the CIM from the China regional monitoring network are further evaluated for global ionospheric corrections. Results show that in the Northern Hemisphere areas including Asia, Europe and North America, the three-dimensional positioning accuracy using the CIM for ionospheric delay corrections is improved by 7.8%–35.3% when compared to GPS single-frequency positioning ionospheric delay corrections using the Klobuchar model. However, the positioning accuracy in the Southern Hemisphere is degraded due apparently to the lack of monitoring stations there.     

A study of long-term climatology of ionospheric irregularities by using GPS phase fluctuations at the Brazilian longitudes

We have examined the ionospheric plasma irregularities that were recorded by using three ground-based receivers of the global positioning system (GPS) located at Brazilian longitudes during the period of a complete solar cycle, 1995–2005. The statistic results show that ionospheric irregularities are very easy to occur in December solstice months but rare to occur in June solstice months. Besides, the occurrence rates of irregularities in both December and June solstice months are little dependent on solar activity. However, in equinoctial months, the development of irregularities is obviously dependent on solar activity. There is a new finding in this study that if strong irregularities are distinguished from moderate ones, their occurrence rates would increase with solar activity during the December solstice months.