Abstract
The ionosphere is a significant component of the geospace environment. Storm-induced ionospheric anomalies severely affect the performance of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) and human space activities, e.g., the Earth observation, deep space exploration, and space weather monitoring and prediction. In this study, we present and discuss the multi-scale ionospheric anomalies monitoring over China using the GNSS observations from the Crustal Movement Observation Network of China (CMONOC) during the 2015 St. Patrick’s Day storm. Total Electron Content (TEC), Ionospheric Electron Density (IED), and the ionospheric disturbance index are used to monitor the storm-induced ionospheric anomalies. This study finally reveals the occurrence of the large-scale ionospheric storms and small-scale ionospheric scintillation during the storm. The results show that this magnetic storm was accompanied by a positive phase and a negative phase ionospheric storm. At the beginning of the main phase of the magnetic storm, both TEC and IED were significantly enhanced. There was long-duration depletion in the topside ionospheric TEC during the recovery phase of the storm. This study also reveals the response and variations in regional ionosphere scintillation. The Rate of the TEC Index (ROTI) was exploited to investigate the ionospheric scintillation and compared with the temporal dynamics of vertical TEC. The analysis of the ROTI proved these storm-induced TEC depletions, which suppressed the occurrence of the ionospheric scintillation. To improve the spatial resolution for ionospheric anomalies monitoring, the regional Three-Dimensional (3D) ionospheric model is reconstructed by the Computerized Ionospheric Tomography (CIT) technique. The spatial-temporal dynamics of ionospheric anomalies during the severe geomagnetic storm was reflected in detail. The IED varied with latitude and altitude dramatically; the maximum IED decreased, and the area where IEDs were maximum moved southward.
Highlights
As a significant component of the geospace environment, the ionosphere is a region in the Earth’s upper atmosphere at an altitude of 60–2000 km
To improve the spatial resolution for ionospheric anomalies monitoring, the regional Three-Dimensional (3D) ionospheric model is reconstructed by the Computerized Ionospheric Tomography (CIT) technique
The current study shows that the positioning errors were doubled when the Global Positioning System (GPS) signals were affected by scintillation during the storm that occurred in September 2017
Summary
As a significant component of the geospace environment, the ionosphere is a region in the Earth’s upper atmosphere at an altitude of 60–2000 km It is disturbed and affected unavoidably by space weather or natural disasters [1,2,3]. Geomagnetic storms generated by the enhanced solar wind energy can last from hours to days, affecting global dynamics and structures of the ionosphere. These ionospheric anomalies can severely affect various Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) applications and radio communication, which relate closely to human space activities [4,5].
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