Comparison Of Total Electron Content Research Articles

Measurement and Comparison of Total Electron Content for Assessment of Ionospheric Models during April 7, 2000 Geomagnetic Storms

Measurement and Comparison of Total Electron Content for Assessment of Ionospheric Models during April 7, 2000 Geomagnetic Storms

Comparison of TEC from IRI-2016 and GPS during the low solar activity over Turkey

This paper presents the performance of the latest version of the International Reference Ionosphere (IRI-2016) model for estimating the Total Electron Content (TEC) variations in the mid-latitudinal Turkish regions during low solar activity years (2015–2018). Moreover, TEC is estimated from dual-frequency Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receivers operating in different regions of Turkey: Zonguldak (41.44 °N, 31.77 °E), Ankara (39.88 °N, 32.75 °E) and Antalya (36.88 °N, 30.66 °E). The diurnal, monthly and seasonal variations in the measured TEC are compared with the prediction of modelled TEC. The results reveal minimum variations in the diurnal TEC after midnight hours 21:00–24:00 Universal Time ( $\text{UT}=\text{LT}+3{:}00~\text{hrs}$ ) and maximum TEC enhancement during the daytime from 9:00–15:00 UT (12:00–18:00 LT). The monthly mean TEC from measured and modelled estimation depicts the highest and lowest values in April and December during the years 2015–2018, respectively. Moreover, the low and high seasonal variations are observed in equinoxes and winter solstice, respectively. Furthermore, it is observed that IRI-2016 model underestimates the measured values, especially during the daytime (12:00–18:00 LT) at each station. The correlation coefficient between the measured and modelled TEC is found in the range ( $R=0.81\text{--}0.85$ ) during the years 2015–2018, which exhibits a high positive correlation over the regions. The model predicted TEC is showing a good agreement with measured TEC of the ionospheric dynamics over the regions, which manifests the radio signals accuracy over the mid-latitude regions, particularly Turkey.

Comparison of TEC from GPS and IRI-2016 model over different regions of Pakistan during 2015–2017

The rapid increase in the comparative studies between the Global Positioning System (GPS) measured Total Electron Content (TEC) and model-predicted TEC on Earth helps in mitigating the biases in the ionospheric delays of radio waves. In this paper, an evaluation on the performance of the latest International Reference Ionosphere (IRI-2016) modelled TEC is conducted with GPS TEC measurements in different regions of Pakistan during the descending phase of solar cycle 24 (2015–2017). We have analyzed the diurnal, monthly and seasonal variabilities in the measured TEC and compared with IRI-2016 modelled TEC. The diurnal variability of measured TEC is found to be maximum during 06:00–12:00 UT (11:00–17:00 LT) and minimum during 21:00–24:00 UT (02:00–05:00 LT). Moreover, maximal and minimal monthly measured TEC for each station and model are also observed in April and December, respectively. In the summer solstice months at Islamabad station during 2015–2017, the measured TEC are larger than the corresponding modelled TEC by about 19%, 22% and 24%, respectively for each year. On the other hand, the difference between the measured and modelled TEC in summer solstice at Multan station during 2015 is 25% of the normal distribution and at Quetta station during 2016 the difference is about 29% in the summer solstice. The results show that the TEC measurements from GPS coincide with TEC from IRI-2016 during the selected days by a correlation of more than 0.86, while a very high correlation coefficient (0.91–0.99) is shown during each month and season over all the stations for the years 2015–2017. IRI-2016 is a good climate model that can provide accurate estimates of ionospheric delays of radio signals propagated over Pakistan.

A comparison of TEC predicted by IRI-2012 with that measured at three different stations in low latitude Indian region for the years (2010–2012)

The present study reports the comparison of GPS measured Total Electron Content (TEC) with that predicted by the latest IRI-2012 model at three different stations located within the Equatorial Ionization Anomaly region (EIA) in the Indian sector. The data used for the study are retrieved from three different stations, namely, Surat (geographic latitude 21.16°N, geographic longitude 72.78°E; geomagnetic latitude 12.90°N), Hyderabad (geographic latitude 17.25°N, geographic longitude 78.30°E; geomagnetic latitude 8.65°N) and Bangalore (geographic latitude 13.02°N, geographic longitude 77.57°E; geomagnetic latitude 4.58°N). The period of comparison is three years for rising solar activity from 2010 to 2012. Here it is to note that both Hyderabad and Bangalore are IGS station with the station code (HYDE and IISC respectively). The results for the comparison of seasonal variation shows a good agreement between the measured and modeled TEC for all seasons with deviation of (±15 TECU) for all three years at Surat and Bangalore and with a deviation of (±25 TECU) at Hyderabad. Both topside options NeQuick and IRI01-Corr derived nearly equal TEC at all three stations. It is observed that the GPS TEC data shows the EIA crest at (23.5°N) where as the IRI TEC predicts the EIA crest at (19.7°N) on an average for all the years 2010–2012.

The Comparison of Total Electron Content Between Radio and Thompson Scattering

The total electron content (TEC) of the solar corona in June 2002 is calculated by three observational techniques and the results are compared. The first technique is solar rotational tomography (SRT) applied to a 14-day time series of LASCO-C2 polarized brightness images, and the other two techniques use the Cassini spacecraft radio beacon for Doppler tracking (phase delay) and ranging (group delay). While the Doppler-tracking technique has an arbitrary zero-point, it is otherwise found that the three methods produce consistent estimates of the TEC to within established uncertainties, providing an independent check on the calibrations. The verification of the accuracy of the Doppler-tracking technique enables a significant improvement to the use of spacecraft data sets in studying the heliosphere: the density component to Faraday rotation can be separated from the magnetic-field component as variable structures cross, such as coronal mass ejections and magnetohydrodynamic waves. Furthermore, we show that the unique frequency-time variable characteristics of the hydrodynamic components of waves can be studied. Based on this work, future Faraday rotation studies of variable solar phenomena will isolate the electron density changes from the magnetic-field contribution. This capability will enable advanced research into variable heliospheric magnetic fields.

An ensemble average method to estimate absolute TEC using radio beacon-based differential phase measurements: Applicability to regions of large latitudinal gradients in plasma density

A GNU Radio Beacon Receiver (GRBR) system for total electron content (TEC) measurements using 150 and 400 MHz transmissions from Low-Earth Orbiting Satellites (LEOS) is fabricated in house and made operational at Ahmedabad (23.04°N, 72.54°E geographic, dip latitude 17°N) since May 2013. This system receives the 150 and 400 MHz transmissions from high-inclination LEOS. The first few days of observations are presented in this work to bring out the efficacy of an ensemble average method to convert the relative TECs to absolute TECs. This method is a modified version of the differential Doppler-based method proposed by de Mendonca (1962) and suitable even for ionospheric regions with large spatial gradients. Comparison of TECs derived from a collocated GPS receiver shows that the absolute TECs estimated by this method are reliable estimates over regions with large spatial gradient. This method is useful even when only one receiving station is available. The differences between these observations are discussed to bring out the importance of the spatial differences between the ionospheric pierce points of these satellites. A few examples of the latitudinal variation of TEC during different local times using GRBR measurements are also presented, which demonstrates the potential of radio beacon measurements in capturing the large-scale plasma transport processes in the low-latitude ionosphere.

Statistical comparison of TEC derived from GPS and ISR observations at high latitudes

A comprehensive data set collected with the Poker Flat Incoherent Scatter Radar (PFISR) and GPS receiver in Fairbanks, Alaska (magnetic latitude = 65.4°N) in 2007–2010 is employed to analyze and compare the total electron content (TEC) estimates derived from two radio techniques at high latitudes. The average TEC trends are shown to be largely similar and consistent with expectations based on solar conditions. The TEC residuals expressed as the difference and ratio between the PFISR‐ and GPS‐derived TEC are evaluated to be below 2 total electron content units (TECU = 1016 electronsm−2) and 0.7–0.8, respectively, with some dependence on solar conditions. The agreement between TEC estimates is examined by limiting the difference between the GPS satellite and PFISR beam elevations to 2.5° and postintegrating GPS measurements over the period of each PFISR measurement. Factors controlling the agreement are investigated, including possible roles of GPS satellite bias, GPS elevation angle, and topside contribution to TEC. It is demonstrated that the best agreement, expressed as a linear correlation and a fraction of points consistent with the linear trend, is achieved with satellites at the largest elevation angles and smallest distances from PFISR, which are a possible effect of small spatial differences and unremoved differential biases. Estimates of the topside contribution to TEC range between 14% and 30% and are most consistent during daytime hours, while observations near the solar terminator and during the night suffer from large uncertainties.

Temporal Variations of GPS Irregularities at Conjugate Points under Storm Conditions

The paper investigates the temporal variations of GPS irregularities at quasi-conjugate points in the polar region during the October-Novemebrr 2003 Halloween storm. The pseudorange and carrier phase observables obtained from dual frequency GPS receivers of Trimble 5700 at Scott Base Station in Antarctica and Ashtech Z-X113 at Resolute Bay in Nunavut, Arctic are employed in determination the ionospheric total electron content (TEC) and scintillation parameters. The comparison of TEC and scintillation parameters at both stations show: dominant occurrence of positive storm phases over the nightside hemisphere, dominant occurrence of negative storm phases over the dayside hemisphere ,the periods of pronounced scintillation activity at both hemispheres were coincident with the TEC enhancement periods, the weak scintillation periods are coincident with the TEC depletion periods. The strong TEC enhancement during the sudden storm commencement of the geomagnetic storm was only seen over the nightside station, and finally obvious asymmetry in the ionospheric TEC and scintillation activity between summer and winter hemispheres was observed. The results over the polar were in good agreement with previous measurements made by other researchers over the subauraral and midlatitude regions.

Developing an ionospheric map for South Africa

Abstract. The development of a map of the ionosphere over South Africa is presented in this paper. The International Reference Ionosphere (IRI) model, South African Bottomside Ionospheric Model (SABIM), and measurements from ionosondes in the South African Ionosonde Network, were combined within their own limitations to develop an accurate representation of the South African ionosphere. The map is essentially in the form of a computer program that shows spatial and temporal representations of the South African ionosphere for a given set of geophysical parameters. A validation of the map is attempted using a comparison of Total Electron Content (TEC) values derived from the map, from the IRI model, and from Global Positioning System (GPS) measurements. It is foreseen that the final South African ionospheric map will be implemented as a Space Weather product of the African Space Weather Regional Warning Centre.

New Algorithm and Results of WAAS Ionospheric Delay Correction

电离层介质的色散性是影响电磁波信号进行卫星导航定位精度的重要因素之一.配合北斗二代分系绩研制任务,提出了一种新的电离层折射校正算法,并利用2000年7月1日到3日的双频GPS观测数据对6个用户站进行试算,进一步将试算所得均方根误差和电离层网格算法得到的误差进行比较.结果表明,对于中纬区域的用户站,估算的TEC误差约为0.5 m左右;而低纬用户误差相对增大,为1 m左右.文中给出的算法与电离层网格模型所提供的精度相差不多,在未来中国自主的卫星增强系统中采用新方法进行电离层进行修正是可行的及有效的.

Intercomparison of TEC obtained from the IRI model to the one derived from GPS measurements

IRI (International Reference Ionosphere) is a well-known standard of the ionosphere, but nowadays GPS permanent observations are also the base of the regional and global ionosphere models. In this paper, comparison of TEC (Total Electron Content) derived from the IRI model to the global TEC parameters derived from GPS measurements is presented. Global TEC maps show, that GPS derived ionosphere models, in opposition to the IRI, give possibilities to investigate ionospheric response to the solar activity on the global and regional scale. The comparison results show a dynamic problem at high latitudes in IRI model.

Comparison of total electron content obtained from GPS with IRI

The comparison of the IRI model with TEC estimated using the continuous GPS observations of European part of IGS network is considered. The variability of a measured TEC was analyzed for the low solar activity in the period 1996–1997. We used IRI 90 version with upped height limit 2000 km and IRI 95 up to 1000 km. It is shown that the difference between model and measured TEC depends on latitude and season.Generally, IRI 95 underestimate and IRI 90 overestimate the TEC relative to GPS measurements. The relative difference may reach over 50%.

Relationships between GPS-signal propagation errors and EISCAT observations

Abstract. When travelling through the ionosphere the signals of space-based radio navigation systems such as the Global Positioning System (GPS) are subject to modifications in amplitude, phase and polarization. In particular, phase changes due to refraction lead to propagation errors of up to 50 m for single-frequency GPS users. If both the L1 and the L2 frequencies transmitted by the GPS satellites are measured, first-order range error contributions of the ionosphere can be determined and removed by difference methods. The ionospheric contribution is proportional to the total electron content (TEC) along the ray path between satellite and receiver. Using about ten European GPS receiving stations of the International GPS Service for Geodynamics (IGS), the TEC over Europe is estimated within the geographic ranges -20°≤ λ ≤40°E and 32.5°≤ Φ ≤70°N in longitude and latitude, respectively. The derived TEC maps over Europe contribute to the study of horizontal coupling and transport proces- ses during significant ionospheric events. Due to their comprehensive information about the high-latitude ionosphere, EISCAT observations may help to study the influence of ionospheric phenomena upon propagation errors in GPS navigation systems. Since there are still some accuracy limiting problems to be solved in TEC determination using GPS, data comparison of TEC with vertical electron density profiles derived from EISCAT observations is valuable to enhance the accuracy of propagation-error estimations. This is evident both for absolute TEC calibration as well as for the conversion of ray-path-related observations to vertical TEC. The combination of EISCAT data and GPS-derived TEC data enables a better understanding of large-scale ionospheric processes.

Comparison of total electron content calculated using the IRI with observations in China

Values of total electron content (TEC) calculated using the International Reference Ionosphere (IRI-86 and IRI-90) are compared with the observations at Xinxiang based on the Faraday rotation measurement. It is found that the IRI gives acceptable values with respect to the observations during low solar activity. Generally the IRI-90 is better than the IRI-86 and the URSI coefficients are better than the CCIR coefficients in the calculation of TEC. Making use of the foF2 and M(3000) F 2 calculated using the Asia Oceania Region F 2-layer mapping (AOR) instead of using the CCIR or the URSI coefficients, the IRI gives more accurate TEC values. In October-April during high solar activity, however, the IRI obviously underestimates TEC in the daytime, which could be due to an improper topside electron density profile.