Investigation of High Latitude Ionospheric Scintillations Observed in the Canadian Region

GPS is a satellite-based radio navigation system, with diverse applications such as surveying, enroute navigation and precision approach of aircraft, deformation monitoring, and land/marine navigation. Many such applications require very high levels of accuracy, reliability and availability. A challenge to such applications exists, however, during high levels of ionospheric activity. The GPS signals are refracted by an amount dependent on the given signal frequency and total electron content along the signal path. In regions of smallscale irregularities in electron density the GPS signals may experience scintillation effects – random rapid variations in signal phase and amplitude. Such effects can cause errors in receiver signal tracking loops and, in some cases, loss of signal lock.

[1]  L. J. Romans,et al.  Imaging the ionosphere with the global positioning system , 1994, Int. J. Imaging Syst. Technol..

[2]  David N. Anderson,et al.  Ionospheric structures in the polar cap: Their origin and relation to 250‐MHz scintillation , 1985 .

[3]  M. S. Gussenhoven,et al.  A statistical model of auroral ion precipitation , 1989 .

[4]  Talbot A. Chubb,et al.  Observations of the aurora in the far ultraviolet from OGO 4 , 1970 .

[5]  Christian Rocken,et al.  Analysis and validation of GPS/MET radio occultation data in the ionosphere , 1999 .

[6]  Ya.I. Fel'dshteyn,et al.  SOME PROBLEMS CONCERNING THE MORPHOLOGY OF AURORAS AND MAGNETIC DISTURBANCES AT HIGH LATITUDES , 1963 .

[7]  J. Aarons,et al.  Global morphology of ionospheric scintillations , 1971, Proceedings of the IEEE.

[8]  Tsunoda.  Magnetic-field-aligned characteristics of plasma bubbles in the nighttime equatorial ionosphere. Topical report no. 3, 2 Apr-1 Jul 79 , 1980 .

[9]  A. Dodson,et al.  Dynamics of high-latitude patches and associated small-scale irregularities during the October and November 2003 storms , 2008 .

[10]  Vincenzo Romano,et al.  ISACCO: an Italian project to monitor the high latitudes ionosphere by means of GPS receivers , 2006 .

[11]  Y. Kamide,et al.  SPATIAL EXTENT OF THE RETURN CURRENT OF THE AURORAL-ZONE ELECTROJET. PART II. , 1969 .

[12]  S. Skone,et al.  The impact of magnetic storms on GPS receiver performance , 2001 .

[13]  Rolf König,et al.  Atmosphere sounding by GPS radio occultation: First results from CHAMP , 2001 .

[14]  Thomas L. Gaussiran,et al.  High‐latitude plasma structure and scintillation , 2004 .

[15]  Sy He,et al.  Impact of Ionospheric Scintillations on SBAS Performance , 2000 .

[16]  Larry J. Romans,et al.  Ionospheric electron density profiles obtained with the Global Positioning System: Results from the GPS/MET experiment , 1998 .

[17]  Ying-Hwa Kuo,et al.  Observing the moist troposphere with radio occultation signals from COSMIC , 2007 .

[18]  K. Yeh,et al.  Radio wave scintillations in the ionosphere , 1982 .

[19]  Michael C. Kelley,et al.  The earth's ionosphere , 1989 .

[20]  S. E. Pryse,et al.  Amplitude and phase scintillation at high latitudes over northern Europe , 1988 .

[21]  Vincenzo Romano,et al.  GPS TEC and scintillation measurements from the polar ionosphere during the October 2003 storm , 2005 .

[22]  M. Gussenhoven,et al.  Systematics of the equatorward diffuse auroral boundary , 1983 .

[23]  S. Basu,et al.  High resolution topside in situ data of electron densities and VHF/GHz scintillations in the equatorial region , 1983 .

[24]  Jules Aarons,et al.  GPS phase fluctuations in the equatorial region during sunspot minimum , 1997 .

[25]  S. Skone,et al.  Magnetic flux mapping considerations in the auroral oval and the Earth's magnetotail , 1993 .

[26]  Patricia H. Doherty,et al.  Ionospheric Scintillation Effects on Single and Dual Frequency GPS Positioning , 2003 .

[27]  Paul M. Kintner,et al.  GPS and ionospheric scintillations , 2007 .

[28]  E. R. Paula,et al.  Effects of the vertical plasma drift velocity on the generation and evolution of equatorial spread F , 1999 .

[29]  S. Skone,et al.  Investigation of Scintillation Characteristics for High Latitude Phenomena , 2008 .

[30]  Cathryn N. Mitchell,et al.  GPS scintillation over the European Arctic during the November 2004 storms , 2008 .

[31]  S. Skone,et al.  Characterizing Ionospheric Irregularities for Auroral Scintillations , 2009 .

[32]  Tsunoda,et al.  High-latitude F-region irregularities: a review and synthesis. Technical report, 1 January 1986-1 July 1987 , 1988 .

[33]  J. Aarons,et al.  The sunspot cycle and “auroral” F layer irregularities , 1995 .

[34]  J. St.‐Maurice,et al.  A new nonlinear approach to the theory of , 2001 .