Near real-time PPP-based monitoring of the ionosphere using dual-frequency GPS/BDS/Galileo data

Ionosphere delay is very important to GNSS observations, since it is one of the main error sources which have to be mitigated even eliminated in order to determine reliable and precise positions. The ionosphere is a dispersive medium to radio signal, so the value of the group delay or phase advance of GNSS radio signal depends on the signal frequency. Ground-based GNSS stations have been used for ionosphere monitoring and modeling for a long time. In this paper we will introduce a novel approach suitable for single-receiver operation based on the precise point positioning (PPP) technique. One of the main characteristic is that only carrier-phase observations are used to avoid particular effects of pseudorange observations. The technique consists of introducing ionosphere ambiguity parameters obtained from PPP filter into the geometry-free combination of observations to estimate ionospheric delays. Observational data from stations that are capable of tracking the GPS/BDS/GALILEO from the International GNSS Service (IGS) Multi-GNSS Experiments (MGEX) network are processed. For the purpose of performance validation, ionospheric delays series derived from the novel approach are compared with the global ionospheric map (GIM) from Ionospheric Associate Analysis Centers (IAACs). The results are encouraging and offer potential solutions to the near real-time ionosphere monitoring.     

Design of aircraft structures against threat of bird strikes

In this paper, a method to design bird-strike-resistant aircraft structures is presented and illustrated through examples. The focus is on bird strike experiments and simulations. The explicit finite element software PAM-CRASH is employed to conduct bird strike simulations, and a coupled Smooth Particles Hydrodynamic (SPH) and Finite Element (FE) method is used to simulate the interaction between a bird and a target structure. The SPH method is explained, and an SPH bird model is established. Constitutive models for various structural materials, such as aluminum alloys, composite materials, honeycomb, and foam materials that are used in aircraft structures, are presented, and model parameters are identified by conducting various material tests. Good agreements between simulation results and experimental data suggest that the numerical model is capable of predicting the dynamic responses of various aircraft structures under a bird strike, and numerical simulation can be used as a tool to design bird-strike-resistant aircraft structures.     

The effect of solar and geomagnetic parameters on total electron content over Ankara,Turkey

In this study, the relationship between total electron content (TEC) and solar and geomagnetic parameters for Ankara station (39.7 N, 32.76 E), Turkey located in the mid-latitude ionosphere is investigated. In this context, F10.7 solar flux and Interplanetary Magnetic Fields (IMF) from solar parameters and Kp and Dst indices from geomagnetic parameters affecting on TEC are considered. The relationship between the variables is investigated by means of the statistical multiple regression model at the universal time (UT) (Local Time = UT + 2 h) 1200 and 2400 in the years when the 24th solar cycle was minimum (2007–2009) and maximum (2015). As a result, it is found that explainable rates by solar and geomagnetic parameters of TEC changes in 2007–2009 are lower than in 2015 at daytime, while the explainable rates in the solar minimum years are higher than those the maximum year at nighttime. To be higher than the solar maximum of explainable rate in the solar minimum years at nighttime may be related to the fact that the dynamics of the ionosphere is significantly different than expected in this deep minimum period. As expected in 2015, the relationship between TEC and independent parameters is greater at daytime than at nighttime.     

A method for automatic detection and characterization of plasma bubbles using GPS and BDS data

Detecting and characterizing Total Electron Content (TEC) depletion is important for studying the ionospheric threat due to the Equatorial Plasma Bubble (EPB) when applying the Ground-Based Augmentation System (GBAS) at low latitudes. This paper develops a robust method to automatically identify TEC depletion and derive its parameters. The rolling barrel algorithm is used to automatically identify the TEC depletion candidate and its parameters. Then, the depletion candidates are screened by several improved techniques to distinguish actual depletions from other phenomena such as Traveling Ionospheric Disturbance (TID) or abnormal data. Next, based on the depletion signals from three triangular receivers, the method derives EPB parameters such as velocity, width and gradient. The time lag and front velocity are calculated based on cross-correlation using TEC depletions and the geometrical distribution of three triangular receivers. The width and gradient of slope are then determined by using TEC depletion from a single receiver. By comparison, both the station-pair method and proposed method depend on the assumption that the EPB morphology is frozen during the short time when the plasma bubble moves between the receivers. However, our method relaxes the restriction that the baseline length should be shorter than the width of slope required by the station-pair. This relaxation is favorable for studying small-scale slope of depletions using stations of a longer baseline. In addition, the accuracy of the width and gradient is free of impact from hardware biases and small-scale disturbance, as it is based only on the relative TEC variation. The method is demonstrated by processing Global Positioning System (GPS) and BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) data on 15 August, 2018, in a solar minimum cycle.     

GPS derived ionospheric TEC response to geomagnetic storm on 24 August 2005 at Indian low latitude stations

Results pertaining to the response of the low latitude ionosphere to a major geomagnetic storm that occurred on 24 August 2005 are presented. The dual frequency GPS data have been analyzed to retrieve vertical total electron content at two Indian low latitude stations (IGS stations) Hyderabad (Geographic latitude 17°20′N, Geographic longitude 78°30′E, Geomagnetic latitude 8.65°N) and Bangalore (Geographic latitude 12°58′N, Geographic longitude 77°33′E, Geomagnetic latitude 4.58°N). These results show variation of GPS derived total electron content (TEC) due to geomagnetic storm effect, local low latitude electrodynamics response to penetration of high latitude convection electric field and effect of modified fountain effect on GPS–TEC in low latitude zone.     

Study of TEC changes during geomagnetic storms occurred near the crest of the equatorial ionospheric ionization anomaly in the Indian sector

GPS satellites data obtained at Bhopal (23.16° N, 77.36° E, geomagnetic latitude 14.23° N) India were analyzed to study the TEC changes during several geomagnetic storms (−300 nT < Dst < −50 nT) occurred in 2005–2007. We had segregated the storms according to the Dst value, i.e. moderate storms (−100 nT < Dst ? −50 nT), strong storms (−150 nT < Dst < −100 nT), and severe storms (Dst less than −150 nT). Total of 21 geomagnetic storms (10 moderate, 9 strong, 2 severe) are considered for the present study. Deviation in vertical total electron content (VTEC) during the main phase of the storm was found to be associated with the prompt penetration of electric field originated due to the under-shielding and over-shielding conditions for almost all geomagnetic storms discussed in this paper. For most of the storms VTEC shows the positive percentage deviation during the main phase while it shows positive as well as the negative deviation during the recovery phase of the storms. The −80% deviation in VTEC was found for geomagnetic storm occurred on July 17, 2005 and the negative trend continued for recovery phase of the storm. This was mainly due to the thermospheric composition changes by Joule heating effect at auroral latitudes that generate electric field disturbance at low latitudes. Traveling ionospheric disturbances (TIDs) were responsible for the formation of wave like nature in VTEC for the storms occurred on May 15, 2005, whereas it was not observed for storm occurred on August 24, 2005.     

Using GPS-TEC data to calibrate VTEC computed with the IRI model over Nigeria

This paper presents the development of a Total Electron Content (TEC) map for the Nigerian ionosphere. In this work, TEC measurements obtained from the AFRL-SCINDA GPS (Air Force Research Laboratory-Scintillation Network Decision Aid, Global Positioning System) equipment installed at Nsukka (6.87°N, 7.38°E) are used to adapt the International Reference Ionosphere (IRI) model for the Nigerian Ionosphere. The map is being developed as a computer program (implemented in the MATLAB programming language) that shows spatial and temporal representations of TEC for the Nigerian ionosphere. The method is aimed at showing how the IRI model can be used to estimate VTEC over wide areas by incorporating GPS measurements. This method is validated by using GPS VTEC data collected from a station in Ilorin (8.50°N, 4.55°E).     

Ionospheric anomalies of local earthquakes detected by GPS TEC measurements using data from Tashkent and Kitab stations

This paper reports the ionospheric anomalies observed during strong local earthquakes (M?5.0) which occurred mostly in and around Uzbekistan in seismically active zones, during years 2006 to 2009 within approximately 1000 km distance from the observing GPS stations located in Tashkent and Kitab, Uzbekistan. The solar and geomagnetic conditions were quiet during occurrence of the selected strong earthquakes. We produce Total Electron Content (TEC) time series over both sites and apply them to detect anomalous TEC signals preceding or accompanying the local earthquakes. The results show anomalous increase or decrease of TEC before or during the earthquakes. In general the anomalies occurred 1–7 days before the earthquakes as ionospheric electromagnetic precursors. To identify the anomalous values of TEC we calculated differential TEC (dTEC). dTEC is obtained by subtracting monthly averaged diurnal vTEC from the values of observed vTEC at each epoch. This procedure removes normal diurnal variations of vTEC. The present results are in good agreement with the previous observations on ionospheric earthquake precursors reported by various researchers.     

精密卫星钟差分形插值算法研究

研究发现精密GPS卫星钟差时序满足三阶平稳假设,由此提出了计算卫星钟差分形维的多阶分形变差法,进而提出了基于分形维确定垂直比例因子的精密卫星钟差分形插值算法。将新方法应用于2010年8个节气日的32颗GPS在轨卫星钟差分形维计算,并选取Block IIA、IIR和IIR\|M各2颗卫星进行钟差插值精度比较。结果表明,分形维可作为定量描述卫星钟差动力学特征的不变量指标;分形插值算法优于三次样条和切比雪夫算法,可以满足快速与高采样率精密卫星钟差应用需求。     

On the variabilities of the Total Electron Content (TEC) over the Indian low latitude sector

The Total Electron Content (TEC) from four locations in the Indian sector namely, Trivandrum (8.47°N, 76.91°E, Geomag.0.63°S, 0.3° dip), Waltair (17.7° N, 83.3°E, Geomag. 6.4°N, 20° dip), Bhopal (23.28°N, 77.34°E, Geomag.14.26°N, 33.2° dip), and Delhi (28.58°N, 77.21°E, Geomag.19.2°N, 43.4° dip) during a low sunspot year of 2004 are used to study the variabilities of the TEC. The day time TEC values are higher over Waltair and Bhopal compared to those at Trivandrum and Delhi. Considerable day-to-day variations in the diurnal values of TEC are observed at the anomaly crest locations. The observed GPS-TEC has been compared with the IRI-2007 model derived TEC considering three different options (IRI-2001, IRI-2001 corrected and Ne-Quick) available in the model for the topside electron density. The TEC derived with Ne-Quick and IRI-01 corrected options show better agreement with GPS-TEC while the TEC from IRI-01 method shows larger deviations. From the correlation analysis carried out between TEC value at 1300 h LT and solar indices parameters namely sunspot number (SSN), F10.7 and EUV, it is observed that the correlation is more during equinoctial months and less during summer months. The correlation coefficients observed over the anomaly locations, Bhopal and Delhi are lower compared to those at Trivandrum and Waltair.