Extreme Solar Events’ Impact on GPS Positioning Results

Janis Balodis,Inese Varna,Madara Normand

doi:10.3390/rs13183624

Janis Balodis, Inese Varna + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/rs13183624

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Journal: Remote sensing	Publication Date: Sep 10, 2021
Citations: 4	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: University of Latvia

Abstract

The main objective of the present study is to perform an analysis of the space weather impact on the Latvian CORS (Continuously Operating GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) Stations) GPS (Global Positioning System) observations, in situations of geomagnetic storms, sun flares and extreme TEC (Total Electron Content) and ROTI (Rate of change of TEC index) levels, by analyzing the results, i.e., 90-s kinematic post-processing solutions, obtained using Bernese GNSS Software v5.2. To complete this study, the 90-s kinematic time series of all the Latvian CORS for the period from 2007 to 2017 were analyzed, and a correlation between time series outliers (hereinafter referred to as faults) and extreme space weather events was sought. Over 36 million position determination solutions were examined, 0.6% of the solutions appear to be erroneous, 0.13% of the solutions have errors greater than 1 m, 0.05% have errors greater than 10 m, and 0.01% of the solutions show errors greater than 50 m. The correlation between faulty results, TEC and ROTI levels and Bernese GNSS Software v5.2 detected cycle slips was computed. This also includes an analysis of fault distribution depending on the geomagnetic latitude as well as faults distribution simultaneously occurring in some stations, etc. This work is the statistical analysis of the Latvian CORS security, mainly focusing on geomagnetic extreme events and ionospheric scintillations in the region of Latvia, with a latitude around 57°N.

Highlights

This study uses observation data from the Latvian CORS network, after post processing with the Bernese GNSS Software v5.2 in kinematic mode with a sampling interval of 90 s
These results are used for the study of the Latvian CORS vulnerability control and for the statistical analysis of discrepancies in relation to the TEC and the ROTI levels
Many research papers are devoted to the studies of the ionospheric irregularities, This study shows that there exists a weak correlation between faulty positioning results the TEC fluctuation [19,30,31,32] and the impact on GNSS and their correlation with GNSS

Summary

Introduction

This study uses observation data from the Latvian CORS network, after post processing with the Bernese GNSS Software v5.2 in kinematic mode with a sampling interval of 90 s. These results are used for the study of the Latvian CORS vulnerability control and for the statistical analysis of discrepancies in relation to the TEC and the ROTI levels. The objective of this study is to assess the risks of the CORS reliability for RTK measurements, and the publicly available TEC and ROTI reliability in connection with ionospheric irregularities in the midlatitude region of Latvia. The term space weather refers to conditions on the sun, solar wind, and Earth’s magnetosphere, ionosphere, and thermosphere that can affect the performance and reliability of space- and ground-based technological systems and can endanger human life or health [1]

Objectives

Results

Conclusion