Abstract
Abstract. Ionospheric disturbances constitute the main restriction factor for precise positioning techniques based on global positioning system (GPS) measurements. Simultaneously, GPS observations are widely used to determine ionospheric disturbances with total electron content (TEC). In this paper, we present an analysis of ionospheric disturbances over China mid- and low-latitude area before and during the magnetic storm on 17 March 2015. The work analyses the variation of magnetic indices, the amplitude of ionospheric irregularities observed with four arrays of GPS stations and the influence of geomagnetic storm on GPS positioning. The results show that significant ionospheric TEC disturbances occurred between 10:30 and 12:00 UT during the main phase of the large storm, and the static position reliability for this period are little affected by these disturbances. It is observed that the positive and negative disturbances propagate southward along the meridian from mid-latitude to low-latitude regions. The propagation velocity is from about 200 to 700 m s−1 and the amplitude of ionospheric disturbances is from about 0.2 to 0.9 TECU min−1. Moreover, the position dilution of precession (PDOP) with static precise point positioning (PPP) on storm and quiet days is 1.8 and 0.9 cm, respectively. This study is based on the analysis of ionospheric variability with differential rate of vertical TEC (DROVT) and impact of ionospheric storm on positioning with technique of GPS PPP. Keywords. Ionosphere (ionospheric disturbances)
Highlights
The development of precise positioning techniques and the increasing number of global positioning system (GPS) tracking stations make it possible to use GPS observation data in a wide range of applications
In the study of ionosphere based GPS, we use the variations of differential rate of vertical TEC (DROVT) to determine ionospheric disturbances and the precise point positioning (PPP) technique to analyse the positioning variations with ionospheric disturbance
Ionospheric disturbances are closely associated with active geomagnetic conditions
Summary
The development of precise positioning techniques and the increasing number of global positioning system (GPS) tracking stations make it possible to use GPS observation data in a wide range of applications. Stankov et al (2006) presented several case and statistical studies of ionospheric storm, which were clearly showing the generation and propagation of ionospheric disturbances They discussed that global navigation satellite system (GNSS) techniques were a powerful tool for monitoring ionospheric perturbations. For the research studies of the 2015 severe geomagnetic storm, Ramsingh et al (2015) investigated the ionospheric disturbances related with the severe storm at equatorial and low-latitude and showed an interesting characteristic of TIDs with disturbance meridional wind surge and strong vertical drifts over Equator. Borries et al (2016) studied perturbations over the European–African sector observed in TEC They found storm-induced LSTIDs which were propagating towards the Equator and had large wave parameters. The differential rate of vertical TEC (DROVT) and technique of GPS precise point positioning (PPP) is applied to detect ionospheric variability and analyse impact of ionospheric storm on positioning, respectively
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