A neural network-based ionospheric model for Arecibo

The Arecibo Observatory (18°N, 66°W) has the world’s largest single dish antenna (300 m diameter). Beyond radio astronomy it can also operate as an incoherent scatter radar and in that mode its figure-of-merit makes it also one of the most powerful world-wide. For the present purpose all electron density data available on the web, from the beginning with the first erratic measurements in 1966 up to 2004 inclusive, were downloaded. The measurements range from about 100 km to beyond 700 km and are essentially evenly distributed, i.e. not dedicated to measure specific geophysical events. From manually edited/inspected data a neural network (NN) was established with season, hour of the day, solar activity and Kp as the input parameters. The performance of this model is checked against a – likewise NN based – global model of foF2, a measure of the maximum electron density of the ionosphere. Considering the diverse data sources and assumptions of the two models it can be concluded that they agree remarkably well.     

On the time of minimum ionization in the F2 region

Using measurements of the critical frequency of F2 region (f_oF2) the validity of the International Reference Ionosphere model to predict the time of minimum ionization is checked. Data obtained at different ionospheric stations have been considered. The CCIR and URSI options are used to model calculations. For CCIR option the results show that good predictions were obtained for about 40% of the considered cases. For the rest of the considered data, the model predicts the minimum at times earlier than that observed in the measurements. The percentages of good predictions obtained with URSI option are lower than those corresponding to CCIR one.     

昆明上空电离层D区电子密度季节变化的首次观测分析

通过分析2008年8月至2009年7月昆明站(25.6°N, 103.8°E) 中频(MF)雷达观测数据, 研究了太阳活动低年电离层D区电子密度的季节变化特性,发现D区电子密度主要呈现半年变化特征, 即在春秋季电子密度较大, 而在夏冬季则较小, 这与国际参考电离层(IRI)预测的年变化趋势不一致, 但与昆明站电离层测高仪的最低回波频率f_min的观测结果相符. 同时比较了D区电子密度半年变化与纬向风半年变化的关系, 发现二者之间保持了非常一致的变化趋势并对这种一致性的内在原因进行了分析.      

火星电离层探测

火星已经成为深空探测的重要目标之一, 登陆火星并在火星生存是人类探测火星的终极目标, 因此电离层是必须了解的火星电磁环境. 火星电离层探测包括直接探测和间接探测. 直接探测精度高, 有较高的空间分辨率, 但是观测时间短, 无法提供长期稳定的探测结果. 对火星电离层的间接探测结果主要来自无线电掩星探测和顶部雷达探测. 无线电掩星探测可实现对火星电离层整个电子密度剖面的长期稳定探测, 但其空间水平分辨率较低, 且可探测的电离层太阳天顶角范围受到地球与火星轨道的限制. 顶部雷达探测对火星电离层的探测具有很高的时间分辨率和空间分辨率, 且同样可进行长期稳定探测, 为火星电离层研究提供了最新的支持. 通过对火星电离层探测的基本方法及典型观测结果的分析, 提出通过几种探测方法适当结合的方式, 同时对火星电离层进行观测, 能够大大推进对火星电离层的研究.      

Ionospheric precursors observed at low latitudes around the time of koyna earthquake

On December 11, 1967 at 05:21 LT, an immense earthquake of magnitude 6.7 struck Koyna, the Indian province of Maharashtra. Its epicenter was located at geographic latitude 17.37°N and longitude 73.75°E with depth of about 3 km. Ground based measurements show variation in the critical frequency of ionospheric F2 layer (foF2) before and after the shock. In the present study the behavior of F2-region of ionosphere has been examined over the equatorial and low latitudinal region ionosphere during the month of December 1967 around the time of Koyna earthquake. For this purpose, the ionospheric data collected with the help of ground-based ionosondes installed at Hyderabad (located close to the earthquake epicenter) Ahmedabad, Trichirapulli, Kodaikanal and Trivendrum have been utilized. The upper and lower bound of Interquartile range (IRQ) are constructed to monitor the variations in foF2 other than day-to-day and diurnal pattern for finding the seismo-ionospheric precursors. Some anomalous electron density variations are observed between post midnight hours to local pre-noon hours at each station. These anomalies are strongly time dependent and appeared a couple of days before the main shock. The period considered in this study comes under the quiet geomagnetic conditions. Hence, the observed anomalies (which are more than the usual day-to-day variability) over all stations are likely to be associated with this imminent earthquake. The possible mechanism to explain these anomalies is the effect of seismogenic electric field generated just above the surface of earth within the earthquake preparation zone well before the earthquake due to emission of radioactive particles and then propagated upward, which perturbs the F-region ionosphere.     

Obtaining more accurate electron density profiles from bending angle with GPS occultation data: FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC constellation

Since 1995, with the first GPS occultation mission on board Low Earth Orbiter (LEO) GPS/MET, inversion techniques were being applied to GPS occultation data to retrieve accurate worldwide distributed refractivity profiles, i.e. electron density profiles in the case of Ionosphere. Important points to guarantee the accuracy is to take into account horizontal gradients and topside electron content above the LEO orbit. This allows improving the accuracy from 20% to 50%, depending on the conditions, latitude and epoch regarding to Solar cycle as reported in previous works.     

GNSS radio tomography of the ionosphere: The problem with essentially incomplete data

We discuss the specific features of the spatiotemporal radio tomography of ionospheric electron density based on the data from high orbiting global navigational satellite system (GNSS). The main peculiarities are four-dimensionality of the problem and essential incompleteness of input data. The approach suggested for the solution of this problem is based on the search for the solution with minimal Sobolev’s norm (the most smooth solution), which provides, in particular, smooth extension of the solution to the area where no input data is available. Methods and algorithms for the solution of the problem are developed, and the resolution of the proposed technique is estimated. Examples of global and regional radio tomographic imaging based on GNSS data are presented. The obtained results are compared with the data of ionosondes and with the results of radio tomography based on the radio transmissions from low-orbiting satellites.     

Effects observed in the equatorial and low latitude ionospheric F-region in the Brazilian sector during low solar activity geomagnetic storms and comparison with the COSMIC measurements

The main objective of the present investigation has been to compare the ionospheric parameters (NmF2 and hmF2) observed by two ground-based ionospheric sounders (one at PALMAS- located near the magnetic equator and the other at Sao Jose dos Campos-located in the low-latitude region) in the Brazilian sector with that by the satellite FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC radio occultation (RO) measurements during two geomagnetic storms which occurred in December 2006 and July 2009. It should be pointed out that in spite of increasing the latitude (to 10°) and longitude (to 20°) around the stations; we had very few common observations. It has been observed that both the peak electron density (NmF2) and peak height (hmF2) observed by two different techniques (space-borne COSMIC and ground-based ionosondes) during both the geomagnetic storm events compares fairly well (with high correlation coefficients) at the two stations in the Brazilian sector. It should be pointed out that due to equatorial spread F (ESF) in the first storm (December 2006) and no-reflections from the ionosphere during nighttime in the second storm (July 2009), we had virtually daytime data from the two ionosondes.     

多模多频卫星导航系统码偏差统一定义与处理方法

精确处理和修正观测量偏差（OSB）是有效发挥多模多频优势,提升GNSS服务和应用效能的前提和基础，已成为国内外卫星导航高精度定位领域研究的热点问题之一。国际GNSS服务组织（IGS）和国际大地测量协会（IAG）专门成立了工作组推动相关工作。然而，目前有关观测量偏差处理的方法仍存在着定义不统一、求解不严密、使用不便捷等突出问题，给实时高精度定位应用带来诸多不利因素。针对此，首先阐述了中国科学院（CAS）电离层分析中心码偏差产品的定义、估计策略和使用方法，然后给出了部分精度评估和分析。结果表明：CAS、CODE和DLR发布的码偏差参数一致性优于0.30ns，CAS码偏差月稳定性优于0.15ns。相关工作对于推动多模多频GNSS在电离层监测、高精度定位和授时定时等领域的应用具有重要参考价值。     

应用端部效应改善的LS+NN模型进行日长变化预报

现有ΔLOD(Delta Length-Of-Day,日长变化)预报模式在进行周期项与残差项拟合分离时,通常没有考虑LS(Least Squares,最小二乘)拟合序列的端部效应,预报精度难以取得较大提高。针对端部效应现象,首先采用时间序列分析模型在ΔLOD序列两端进行数据延拓,构成一个新序列,然后用新序列求得LS外推模型系数,再结合LS外推模型和NN(Neural Network,神经网络)对原始ΔLOD序列进行预测。算例表明,在ΔLOD序列两端增加延拓数据,能有效改善LS拟合序列的端部效应;端部效应改善的LS+NN模型的预报精度明显优于常规LS+NN模型,精度最大提高了17.86%。该方法不仅适用于LS+NN模型,也适用于LS外推模型与其他模型的组合。