Ionospheric Scintillation Effects on Signals Transmitted from LEO Satellites

Abstract

LEO satellite-based navigation has gained attention in recent years. However, there has been very little study on the ionospheric effects for signals transmitted from LEO satellites. In this paper, we present simulation studies of the impact of ionospheric plasma irregularities on L-band signals propagating from a LEO satellite to a receiver on the surface of the Earth. We utilize a physics-based and data-consistent GNSS scintillation signal simulator developed by the authors to generate a phase screen model. The parameters of the phase screen model are extracted from ground-based GNSS receiver measurements of scintillation signals transmitted from real GNSS satellites in MEO orbit. Once the phase screen model is established, we simulate LEO satellite orbits from which GNSS-like signals are transmitted and propagated through the phase screen to reach receivers on the Earth surface. Several different configurations of phase screen and LEO satellite orbits and different scintillation severity levels defined by the MEO satellite signal will be simulated. For each pair of the phase screen and LEO satellite configuration and for each scintillation intensity level, we compute the LEO satellite signal amplitude, carrier phase, and phase rate time series as well as scintillation index and de-correlation time observed by a ground-based receiver. The result will provide a quantitative assessment on the ionospheric irregularities effects on LEO satellite transmissions and offer insights toward developing mitigation techniques for future receivers.