Global Ionospheric Model Accuracy Analysis Using Shipborne Kinematic GPS Data in the Arctic Circle

Di Wang,Chunguo Yang,Zhaocai Wu,Jinling Wang,Xiaowen Luo,Ziyin Wu,Tao Zhang,Jinyao Gao

doi:10.3390/rs11172062

Abstract

The global ionospheric model built by the International Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) Service (IGS) using GNSS reference stations all over the world is currently the most widely used ionospheric product on a global scale. Therefore, analysis and evaluation of this ionospheric product’s accuracy and reliability are essential for the practical use of the product. In contrast to the traditional way of assessing global ionospheric models with ground-based static measurements, our study used shipborne kinematic global positioning system (GPS) measurements collected over 18 days to perform a preliminary analysis and evaluation of the accuracy of the global ionospheric models; our study took place in the Arctic Circle. The data from the International GNSS Service stations near the Arctic Circle were used to verify the ionospheric total electron contents derived from the kinematic data. The results suggested that the global ionospheric model had an approximate regional accuracy of 12 total electron content units (TECu) within the Arctic Circle and deviated from the actual ionospheric total electron content value by about 4 TECu.

Highlights

As an important component of the solar–terrestrial environment, the ionosphere has profound effects on modern radio engineering and human activities
The invention and rapid development of the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) resulted in it becoming the main technique for ionosphere observation, as it is continuous, comprehensive, low-cost, highly accurate, and can be utilized in all types of weather [7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16]
Analyzing and evaluating the accuracy of the global ionospheric model in the Arctic Circle is crucial for the proper application of the International GNSS Service (IGS) ionospheric products in that region and related work in the future

Summary

Introduction

As an important component of the solar–terrestrial environment, the ionosphere has profound effects on modern radio engineering and human activities. There have been some researchers who have used satellites for ocean altimetry to analyze and model the ionospheric total electron content (TEC) over the sea [22,23,24], due to inevitable systematic errors between different data sources and a limited number of existing satellites, the accuracy of the product is low.

Results

Conclusion