GPS radio interferometry of travelling ionospheric disturbances

Abstract

This paper presents some results investigating the new possibilities of radio interferometry of Travelling Ionospheric Disturbances (TIDs) that are based on exploiting standard measurements of transionospheric radio signal characteristics and coordinate-time measurements using dual-frequency multichannel receivers of the Global Positioning System (GPS). A Statistical Angle-of-arrival and Doppler Method for GPS radio interferometry (SADM-GPS) is proposed for determining the characteristics of the TIDs dynamics by measuring variations of GPS phase derivatives with respect to time and spatial coordinates. These data are used to calculate corresponding values of the velocity vector, in view of a correction for satellite motions based on the current information available regarding the angular coordinates of the satellites. Subsequently, velocity and direction distributions are constructed and analyzed to verify the hypothesis of whether there is a predominant displacement. If it exists, then the pattern can be considered to be travelling, and the mean travel velocity can be determined from the velocity distribution. Through a computer simulation it was shown that multi-satellite GPS radio interferometry in conjunction with the SADM-GPS algorithm allows the detection and measurement of the velocity vector of TIDs in virtually the entire azimuthal range of possible TID propagation directions. The use of the proposed method is exemplified by an investigation of TIDs during the solar eclipse of 9 March 1997, using the GPS-radio interferometer GPSINT at Irkutsk.