Identification of seismic activity sources on the subsatellite track by ionospheric plasma disturbances detected with the Sich-2 onboard probes

Using a cylindrical Langmuir probe and the authors’ proprietary two-channel pressure transducer, ionospheric plasma parameter distributions along the orbit of the Sich-2 satellite (Ukraine, 2011–2012) were measured. This paper is concerned with identifying the space–time location of ionospheric plasma disturbance sources, including the epicenters of actual earthquakes (before or during the satellite flyover) and incipient earthquakes on the subsatellite track, from the measured distributions of the electron density and temperature and the neutral particle temperature along the satellite orbit. To do this, the measured ionospheric plasma parameter distributions are connected to the coordinates on the subsatellite track.It is shown that local disturbances in the electron density and temperature and neutral particle temperature distributions in the satellite orbit in the ionosphere may serve as indicators of seismic activity on the subsatellite track. The epicenters of incipient earthquakes may be set off from other plasma parameter disturbance sources associated with seismic activity using information provided by special monitoring and survey centers that monitor the current seismic situation.     

A method of estimating GPS instrumental biases with a convolution algorithm

This paper presents a method of deriving the instrumental differential code biases (DCBs) of GPS satellites and dual frequency receivers. Considering that the total electron content (TEC) varies smoothly over a small area, one ionospheric pierce point (IPP) and four more nearby IPPs were selected to build an equation with a convolution algorithm. In addition, unknown DCB parameters were arranged into a set of equations with GPS observations in a day unit by assuming that DCBs do not vary within a day. Then, the DCBs of satellites and receivers were determined by solving the equation set with the least-squares fitting technique. The performance of this method is examined by applying it to 361?days in 2014 using the observation data from 1311 GPS Earth Observation Network (GEONET) receivers. The result was crosswise-compared with the DCB estimated by the mesh method and the IONEX products from the Center for Orbit Determination in Europe (CODE). The DCB values derived by this method agree with those of the mesh method and the CODE products, with biases of 0.091?ns and 0.321?ns, respectively. The convolution method's accuracy and stability were quite good and showed improvements over the mesh method.     

Midlatitude ionospheric F2-layer response to eruptive solar events-caused geomagnetic disturbances over Hungary during the maximum of the solar cycle 24: A case study

In our study we analyze and compare the response and behavior of the ionospheric F2 and of the sporadic E-layer during three strong (i.e., Dst?<??100nT) individual geomagnetic storms from years 2012, 2013 and 2015, winter time period. The data was provided by the state-of the art digital ionosonde of the Széchenyi István Geophysical Observatory located at midlatitude, Nagycenk, Hungary (IAGA code: NCK, geomagnetic latitude: 46.17° geomagnetic longitude: 98.85°). The local time of the sudden commencement (SC) was used to characterize the type of the ionospheric storm (after Mendillo and Narvaez, 2010). This way two regular positive phase (RPP) ionospheric storms and one no-positive phase (NPP) storm have been analyzed. In all three cases a significant increase in electron density of the foF2 layer can be observed at dawn/early morning (around 6:00 UT, 07:00 LT). Also we can observe the fade-out of the ionospheric layers at night during the geomagnetically disturbed time periods. Our results suggest that the fade-out effect is not connected to the occurrence of the sporadic E-layers.     

Application of Wuhan Ionospheric Oblique Backscattering Sounding System (WIOBSS) for the investigation of midlatitude ionospheric irregularities

An upgrade of Wuhan Ionospheric Backscattering Sounding System (WIOBSS) was developed in 2015. Based on the Universal Serial Bus (USB), and a high performance FPGA, the newly designed WIOBSS has a completely digital structure, which makes it portable and flexible. Two identical WIOBSSs, which were situated at Mile (24.31°N, 103.39°E) and Puer (22.74°N, 101.05°E) respectively, were used to investigate the ionospheric irregularities. The comparisons of group distance, Doppler shift and width between Mile-Puer and Puer-Mile VHF ionospheric propagation paths indicate that the reciprocity of the irregularities is satisfied at midlatitude region. The WIOBSS is robust in the detection of ionospheric irregularities.     

Application of small-size antennas for estimation of angles of arrival of HF signals scattered by ionospheric irregularities

A modification of the Doppler Interferometry Technique is suggested to enable estimating angles of arrival of comparatively broadband HF signals scattered by random irregularities of the ionospheric plasma with the use of small-size weakly directional antennas. The technique is based on the measurements of cross-spectra phases of the probe radiation recorded at least in three spatially separated points. The developed algorithm has been used to investigate the angular and frequency-time characteristics of HF signals propagating at frequencies above the maximum usable one (MUF) for the direct radio path Moscow-Kharkiv. The received signal spectra show presence of three families of spatial components attributed, respectively, to scattering by plasma irregularities near the middle point of the radio path, ground backscatter signals and scattering of the sounding signals by the intense plasma turbulence associated with auroral activations. It has been shown that the regions responsible for the formation of the third family components are located well inside the auroral oval. The drift velocity and direction of the auroral ionosphere plasma have been determined. The obtained estimates are consistent with the classical conception of the ionospheric plasma convection at high latitudes and do not contradict the results of investigations of the auroral ionosphere dynamics using the SuperDARN network.     

A comparative study of ionospheric IRIEup and ISP assimilative models during some intense and severe geomagnetic storms

Three-dimensional (3-D) electron density matrices, computed in the Mediterranean area by the IRI climatological model and IRIEup and ISP nowcasting models, during some intense and severe geomagnetic-ionospheric storms, were ingested by the ray tracing software tool IONORT, to synthesize quasi-vertical ionograms. IRIEup model was run in different operational modes: (1) assimilating validated autoscaled electron density profiles only from a limited area which, in our case, is the Mediterranean sector (IRIEup_re(V) mode); (2) assimilating electron density profiles from a larger region including several stations spread across Europe: (a) without taking care of validating the autoscaled data in the assimilation process (IRIEup(NV)); (b) validating carefully the autoscaled electron density profiles before their assimilation (IRIEup(V)).The comparative analysis was carried out comparing IRI, IRIEup_re(V), ISP, IRIEup(NV), and IRIEup(V) foF2 synthesized values, with corresponding foF2 measurements autoscaled by ARTIST, and then validated, at the truth sites of Roquetes (40.80°N, 0.50°E, Spain), San Vito (40.60°N, 17.80°E, Italy), Athens (38.00°N, 23.50°E, Greece), and Nicosia, (35.03°N, 33.16°E, Cyprus). The outcomes demonstrate that: (1) IRIEup_re(V), performs better than ISP in the western Mediterranean (around Roquetes); (2) ISP performs slightly better than IRIEup_re(V) in the central part of Mediterranean (around Athens and San Vito); (3) ISP performance is better than the IRIEup_re(V) one in the eastern Mediterranean (around Nicosia); (4) IRIEup(NV) performance is worse than the IRIEup(V) one; (5) in the central Mediterranean area, IRIEup(V) performance is better than the IRIEup_re(V) one, and it is practically the same for the western and eastern sectors.Concerning the overall performance, nowcasting models proved to be considerably more reliable than the climatological IRI model to represent the ionosphere behaviour during geomagnetic-ionospheric storm conditions; ISP and IRIEup(V) provided the best performance, but neither of them has clearly prevailed over the other one.     

电离层Es离子分布数值建模

从离子连续性方程和动量方程出发,比较全面地考虑了太阳光电离、星光电离、地冕电离、星际背景电离和流星离子流等电离源,综合分析Es层的主要动力学过程和光化学过程,以风剪切理论为基础,研究中性成分碰撞、电场作用、金属离子作用和分子离子作用等机制对离子分布的影响,建立了一维时变电离层Es物理模型.对离子产生率、垂直方向的离子速度在高度和时间上的变化进行仿真和计算,得到了在电场及风剪切作用下的离子密度剖面24h内的变化规律.根据建立的模型,以昆明相干散射雷达观测的径向风结果作为模型输入参考,仿真并得到了电离层Es电子密度的时空分布,据此反演出电离层Es临界频率f₀E_s.与昆明站电离层测高仪同时间观测的情况进行对比,结果比较一致,验证了建立的Es层物理模型正确性.     

考虑磨损后含间隙指向机构运动特性

为了提高空间指向机构磨损寿命的预测精度,克服传统静态磨损寿命预测的缺陷,计及间隙、摩擦磨损耦合因素,以实现机构关节动态磨损的精确预测,并对综合考虑间隙、摩擦磨损等因素的空间二维指向机构动力学问题和磨损问题进行了研究。采用牛顿 欧拉法,将间隙变量嵌入动力学模型,构建含间隙二维指向机构的动力学模型。基于Archards磨损模型,找到运动副接触面不同位置处的磨损深度,重构运动副表面形貌,并对磨损前后含间隙指向机构的动态特性进行分析,得到了关节处接触碰撞力和切向摩擦力的变化规律;采用动态拟合变量法和离散处理法分别对含间隙运动副内部间隙与接触力间、运行时间与相对滑移速度间的对应关系进行拟合,并建立了动态磨损数学模型;进一步预测了二维指向机构在跟踪模式、调姿模式下的运行时间分别为1259192h、76444h。研究工作为二维指向机构的本体设计、制造与应用奠定基础。     

高精度UT1-UTC差分预报方法研究

针对卫星导航所需的高精度地球定向参数(EOP)中的UT1-UTC预报问题,提出了基于双差分LS+AR的UT1-UTC参数预报方法。对UT1-UTC观测数据进行跳秒检测、固体地球带谐潮汐项改正,然后对改正后的UT1-UTC数据进行双差分处理,增强数据平稳性;采用最小二乘拟合(LS)与自回归(AR)分析方法对差分处理后的数据进行分析与预报;对预报结果进行逆差分处理与潮汐项改正外推、跳秒恢复,获取高精度的UT1-UTC预报值。通过与国际EOP_PCC预报结果对比表明,UT1-UTC短期预报精度与EOP_PCC较优的预报精度相当,其中1天UT1-UTC预报精度优于0.03ms,优于EOP_PCC预报结果。介绍了北京航天飞行控制中心的UT1-UTC每日例行预报情况。     

Using TensorFlow-based Neural Network to estimate GNSS single frequency ionospheric delay (IONONet)

In the last 20?years, and in particular in the last decade, the availability of propagation data for GNSS has increased substantially. In this sense, the ionosphere has been sounded with a large number of receivers that provide an enormous amount of ionospheric data. Moreover, the maturity of the models has also been increased in the same period of time. As an example, IGS has ionospheric maps from GNSS data back to 1998, which would allow for the correlation of these data with other quantities relevant for the user and space weather (such as Solar Flux and Kp). These large datasets would account for almost half a billion points to be analyzed. With the advent and explosion of Big Data algorithms to analyze large databases and find correlations with different kinds of data, and the availability of open source code libraries (for example, the TensorFlow libraries from Google that are used in this paper), the possibility of merging these two worlds has been widely opened. In this paper, a proof of concept for a single frequency correction algorithm based in GNSS GIM vTEC and Fully Connected Neural Networks is provided. Different Neural Network architectures have been tested, including shallow (one hidden layer) and deep (up to five hidden layers) Neural Network models. The error in training data of such models ranges from 50% to 1% depending on the architecture used. Moreover, it is shown that by adjusting a Neural Network with data from 2005 to 2009 but tested with data from 2016 to 2017, Neural Network models could be suitable for the forecast of vTEC for single frequency users. The results indicate that this kind of model can be used in combination with the Galileo Signal-in-Space (SiS) NeQuick G parameters. This combination provides a broadcast model with equivalent performances to NeQuick G and better than GPS ICA for the years 2016 and 2017, showing a 3D position Root Mean Squared (RMS) error of approximately 2?m.