Performance of GPS positioning in the presence of irregularities in the auroral and polar ionospheres during EISCAT UHF/ESR measurements

Habila Mormi John; Biagio Forte; Ivan Astin; Tom Allbrook; Alex Arnold; Bruno Cesar Vani; Ingemar Häggström

doi:10.3390/rs13234798

Performance of GPS positioning in the presence of irregularities in the auroral and polar ionospheres during EISCAT UHF/ESR measurements

Habila Mormi John, Biagio Forte, Ivan Astin, Tom Allbrook, Alex Arnold, Bruno Cesar Vani, Ingemar Häggström

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Abstract

Irregularities in the spatial distribution of ionospheric electron density introduce temporal fluctuations in the intensity and phase of radio signals received from Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS). The impact of phase fluctuations originating from irregularities in the auroral and polar ionospheres on GPS positioning was investigated on three days in March 2018 in the presence of quiet-to-moderately disturbed magnetic conditions by combining measurements from GPS and EISCAT UHF/ESR incoherent scatter radars. Two different positioning solutions were analysed: broadcast kinematic (BK) and precise static (PS). The results show that the propagation through irregularities induced residual errors on the observables leading to an increase in the positioning error, in its variability, and in the occurrence of gaps. An important aspect emerging from this study is that the variability of the 3-D positioning error was reduced, and the presence of gaps disappeared when the positioning solutions were evaluated at a 1 s rate rather than at a 30 s rate. This is due to the transient nature of residual errors that are more significant over 30 s time intervals in the presence of irregularities with scale size between few kilometres in the E region to few tens of kilometres in the F region.

Original language	English
Article number	4798
Journal	Remote Sensing
Volume	13
Issue number	23
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3390/rs13234798
Publication status	Published - 26 Nov 2021

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Acknowledgments: H.M.J. wishes to thank the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF), Abuja, Nigeria for providing for the PhD research scholarship. The EISCAT campaigns were supported through the EISCAT UK time allocation. This work was also supported by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) [Grant number NE/R009082/1 and Grant number NE/V002597/1]. EISCAT is an international association supported by research organisations in China (CRIRP), Finland (SA), Japan (NIPR and STEL), Norway (NFR), Sweden (VR), and the United Kingdom (NERC). We thank the institutes who maintain the IMAGE Magnetometer Array: Tromsø Geophysical Observatory of UiT the Arctic University of Norway (Norway), Finnish Meteorological Institute (Finland), Institute of Geophysics Polish Academy of Sciences (Poland), GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences (Germany), Geological Survey of Sweden (Sweden), Swedish Institute of Space Physics (Sweden), Sodankylä Geophysical Observatory of the University of Oulu (Finland), and Polar Geophysical Institute (Russia). The 1 s and 30 s RINEX data were accessed through the International GNSS Service (IGS). Many thanks to GNSS Calendar and Utility product available online through http://www.gnsscalendar.com/ where orbit and clock sources both broadcast and precise modes were downloaded. gLAB is a software tool suite develop under a European Space Agency (ESA) Contract by the Research Group of Astronomy and Geomagnetics (gAGE) from the Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya (UPC), is an interactive educational multipurpose package to process and analysis GNSS data (http://www.gage.upc.edu/gLAB). Many thanks to the providers of RTKLIB, which was used to download the 1 s and 30 s RINEX observation and navigation data, used to calculate TEC fluctuations, 3-D position error, variability in timing error, and DOPs.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

Keywords

Broadcast kinematic positioning
Disturbed ionospheric and geomagnetic conditions
EISCAT UHF/ESR
Ionospheric irregularities
Precise static positioning
TEC fluctuations

ASJC Scopus subject areas

General Earth and Planetary Sciences

Access to Document

10.3390/rs13234798Licence: CC BY

remotesensing-1443695_revised_v02_BF.PDFAccepted author manuscript, 3.38 MBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

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title = "Performance of GPS positioning in the presence of irregularities in the auroral and polar ionospheres during EISCAT UHF/ESR measurements",

abstract = "Irregularities in the spatial distribution of ionospheric electron density introduce temporal fluctuations in the intensity and phase of radio signals received from Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS). The impact of phase fluctuations originating from irregularities in the auroral and polar ionospheres on GPS positioning was investigated on three days in March 2018 in the presence of quiet-to-moderately disturbed magnetic conditions by combining measurements from GPS and EISCAT UHF/ESR incoherent scatter radars. Two different positioning solutions were analysed: broadcast kinematic (BK) and precise static (PS). The results show that the propagation through irregularities induced residual errors on the observables leading to an increase in the positioning error, in its variability, and in the occurrence of gaps. An important aspect emerging from this study is that the variability of the 3-D positioning error was reduced, and the presence of gaps disappeared when the positioning solutions were evaluated at a 1 s rate rather than at a 30 s rate. This is due to the transient nature of residual errors that are more significant over 30 s time intervals in the presence of irregularities with scale size between few kilometres in the E region to few tens of kilometres in the F region.",

keywords = "Broadcast kinematic positioning, Disturbed ionospheric and geomagnetic conditions, EISCAT UHF/ESR, Ionospheric irregularities, Precise static positioning, TEC fluctuations",

author = "John, {Habila Mormi} and Biagio Forte and Ivan Astin and Tom Allbrook and Alex Arnold and Vani, {Bruno Cesar} and Ingemar H{\"a}ggstr{\"o}m",

note = "Funding Information: Acknowledgments: H.M.J. wishes to thank the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF), Abuja, Nigeria for providing for the PhD research scholarship. The EISCAT campaigns were supported through the EISCAT UK time allocation. This work was also supported by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) [Grant number NE/R009082/1 and Grant number NE/V002597/1]. EISCAT is an international association supported by research organisations in China (CRIRP), Finland (SA), Japan (NIPR and STEL), Norway (NFR), Sweden (VR), and the United Kingdom (NERC). We thank the institutes who maintain the IMAGE Magnetometer Array: Troms{\o} Geophysical Observatory of UiT the Arctic University of Norway (Norway), Finnish Meteorological Institute (Finland), Institute of Geophysics Polish Academy of Sciences (Poland), GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences (Germany), Geological Survey of Sweden (Sweden), Swedish Institute of Space Physics (Sweden), Sodankyl{\"a} Geophysical Observatory of the University of Oulu (Finland), and Polar Geophysical Institute (Russia). The 1 s and 30 s RINEX data were accessed through the International GNSS Service (IGS). Many thanks to GNSS Calendar and Utility product available online through http://www.gnsscalendar.com/ where orbit and clock sources both broadcast and precise modes were downloaded. gLAB is a software tool suite develop under a European Space Agency (ESA) Contract by the Research Group of Astronomy and Geomagnetics (gAGE) from the Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya (UPC), is an interactive educational multipurpose package to process and analysis GNSS data (http://www.gage.upc.edu/gLAB). Many thanks to the providers of RTKLIB, which was used to download the 1 s and 30 s RINEX observation and navigation data, used to calculate TEC fluctuations, 3-D position error, variability in timing error, and DOPs. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.",

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AU - Vani, Bruno Cesar

AU - Häggström, Ingemar

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N2 - Irregularities in the spatial distribution of ionospheric electron density introduce temporal fluctuations in the intensity and phase of radio signals received from Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS). The impact of phase fluctuations originating from irregularities in the auroral and polar ionospheres on GPS positioning was investigated on three days in March 2018 in the presence of quiet-to-moderately disturbed magnetic conditions by combining measurements from GPS and EISCAT UHF/ESR incoherent scatter radars. Two different positioning solutions were analysed: broadcast kinematic (BK) and precise static (PS). The results show that the propagation through irregularities induced residual errors on the observables leading to an increase in the positioning error, in its variability, and in the occurrence of gaps. An important aspect emerging from this study is that the variability of the 3-D positioning error was reduced, and the presence of gaps disappeared when the positioning solutions were evaluated at a 1 s rate rather than at a 30 s rate. This is due to the transient nature of residual errors that are more significant over 30 s time intervals in the presence of irregularities with scale size between few kilometres in the E region to few tens of kilometres in the F region.

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Performance of GPS positioning in the presence of irregularities in the auroral and polar ionospheres during EISCAT UHF/ESR measurements

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

BABHM - Space Weather Instrumentation, Measurement, Modelling and Risk: Ionosphere (SWIMMR-I)

Space weather disruptions to satellite navigation and telecommunications: ionospheric scintillation

Cite this

Performance of GPS positioning in the presence of irregularities in the auroral and polar ionospheres during EISCAT UHF/ESR measurements

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Projects

BABHM - Space Weather Instrumentation, Measurement, Modelling and Risk: Ionosphere (SWIMMR-I)

Space weather disruptions to satellite navigation and telecommunications: ionospheric scintillation

Cite this