Statistics of ionospheric disturbances and their correlation with GNSS positioning errors at high latitudes

The Rate Of TEC Index (ROTI) is a commonly used measure of ionospheric activity. ROTI values have been computed every 5 min for the year 2012, for 10 receivers at latitudes from 59° to 79° North. We present the results in geomagnetic coordinates, showing that elevated ROTI values occur mainly in the...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Jacobsen Knut Stanley, Dähnn Michael
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: EDP Sciences 2014-01-01
Series:Journal of Space Weather and Space Climate
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.swsc-journal.org/articles/swsc/full_html/2014/01/swsc140024/swsc140024.html
Description
Summary:The Rate Of TEC Index (ROTI) is a commonly used measure of ionospheric activity. ROTI values have been computed every 5 min for the year 2012, for 10 receivers at latitudes from 59° to 79° North. We present the results in geomagnetic coordinates, showing that elevated ROTI values occur mainly in the cusp and nightside auroral oval regions. Elevated ROTI values are more common in the cusp, but in the nightside auroral oval they are stronger. To investigate the relation to positioning errors, receiver coordinates were computed using the GIPSY software, for the same receivers and time resolution. We found that there is a strong positive correlation between Precise Point Positioning (PPP) error and ROTI for receivers that are affected by space weather. The 3D position error increases exponentially with increasing ROTI. A statistical analysis presents also the risk of having several satellites observing enhanced ROTI values simultaneously, showing that this risk is greater at high latitudes.
ISSN:2115-7251