Abstract
Ionospheric scintillation refers to rapid fluctuations in signal amplitude/phase when radio signals propagate through irregularities in the ionosphere. The occurrence of ionospheric scintillation can severely degrade the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receiver tracking loop performance, with consequential effects on positioning. Under strong scintillation conditions, receivers can even lose lock on satellites, which poses serious threats to safety–critical GNSS applications and precise positioning. The characteristics of intensity fading on Global Positioning System (GPS) L1 C/A signals during the peak of the last solar cycle at the low latitude station of Presidente Prudente (Lat. 22.12°S, Long. 51.41°W, Magnetic Lat. 12.74°S) are investigated. The results show that the occurrence of scintillation at this station is extremely frequent. An analysis of the fading events revealed an inverse relationship between fading depth and duration. Mathematical models are built to investigate and explain the statistical relationship between intensity fading and the commonly used amplitude scintillation index S4. Then the GPS receiver tracking loop performance is studied in relation to fading. A conclusion can be drawn that both fading depth and duration can affect the tracking loop performance, but the tracking error variance is more strongly related to fading speed, defined as the ratio of fading depth to fading duration. The proposed study is of great significance for better understanding the ionospheric scintillation intensity fading characteristics at low latitudes. It can also contribute to the research on the effects of scintillation on GNSS as well as support the design and development of scintillation robust GNSS receivers.
Highlights
The ionosphere is the ionized part of the earth’s atmosphere in which the number of free ions and electrons is large enough to affect the propagation of radio frequency (RF) signals
Ionospheric plasma density irregularities are formed due to the Fountain effect (Davies 1990; Yeh and Liu 1982), which results in a phenomenon known as scintillation, characterized by rapid signal amplitude/phase fluctuations when RF signals pass through the irregularities
Scintillation occurrence can affect the quality of the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signals, degrading the GNSS receiver tracking loop performance and positioning accuracy
Summary
The ionosphere is the ionized part of the earth’s atmosphere in which the number of free ions and electrons is large enough to affect the propagation of radio frequency (RF) signals. Ionospheric plasma density irregularities are formed due to the Fountain effect (Davies 1990; Yeh and Liu 1982), which results in a phenomenon known as scintillation, characterized by rapid signal amplitude/phase fluctuations when RF signals pass through the irregularities. Scintillation has attracted extensive research interests in the past several years. Researchers such as Basu et al (1988), Fortes et al (2015) and Kai et al (2017) found that. Scintillation occurrence can affect the quality of the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signals, degrading the GNSS receiver tracking loop performance and positioning accuracy. The effects of scintillation on the GNSS receiver performance have been widely
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