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Abstract Plasma irregularities in the ionosphere induce scintillation of radio signals. Radio occultation (RO) observations of the Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) signals from low Earth orbit (LEO) allow monitoring of the ionospheric scintillation. Under certain conditions, it is possible to localize (geolocate) plasma irregularities along the line‐of‐sight between the GNSS and LEO satellites. While several techniques have been considered for the localization, in this study we use the back propagation (BP) of complex RO signals (phase and amplitude) measured at a high rate (HR), 50–100 Hz. Our method is based on a numerical solution of the wave equation, originally proposed for geolocation in 2002, with some modifications. We consider theoretical aspects of the BP technique, including assumptions, approximations and limitations, and perform numerical modeling of radio wave propagation. We investigate geolocation by BP for two regions with aligned and mis‐aligned irregularities and explain multi‐valued geolocations. We focus on the equatorial F region, consistent with the COSMIC‐2 observation sampling and use the IGRF‐13 model of the Earth's magnetic field to define the orientation of plasma irregularities. We use our method for processing of COSMIC‐2 HR scintillation data collected from the precise orbit determination antennas for 2 years: 2021 and 2023 (years with low and high solar activity). The results, represented by gridded monthly maps of geolocations, show clear seasonal and interannual variations. Additionally, we present comparison of the geolocations obtained independently from L1 and L2 signals for a 2‐month period.
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Morphological and Spectral Features of Ionospheric Structures at E- and F-Region Altitudes over Poker Flat Analyzed Using Modeling and Observations
Electron density irregularities in the ionosphere modify the phase and amplitude of trans-ionospheric radio signals. We aim to characterize the spectral and morphological features of E- and F-region ionospheric irregularities likely to produce these fluctuations or “scintillations”. To characterize them, we use a three-dimensional radio wave propagation model—“Satellite-beacon Ionospheric scintillation Global Model of upper Atmosphere” (SIGMA), along with the scintillation measurements observed by a cluster of six Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers called Scintillation Auroral GPS Array (SAGA) at Poker Flat, AK. An inverse method is used to derive the parameters that describe the irregularities by estimating the best fit of model outputs to GPS observations. We analyze in detail one E-region and two F-region events during geomagnetically active times and determine the E- and F-region irregularity characteristics using two different spectral models as input to SIGMA. Our results from the spectral analysis show that the E-region irregularities are more elongated along the magnetic field lines with rod-shaped structures, while the F-region irregularities have wing-like structures with irregularities extending both along and across the magnetic field lines. We also found that the spectral index of the E-region event is less than the spectral index of the F-region events. Additionally, the spectral slope on the ground at higher frequencies is less than the spectral slope at irregularity height. This study describes distinctive morphological and spectral features of irregularities at E- and F-regions for a handful of cases performed using a full 3D propagation model coupled with GPS observations and inversion.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1848207
- PAR ID:
- 10433793
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Sensors
- Volume:
- 23
- Issue:
- 5
- ISSN:
- 1424-8220
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 2477
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.3390/s23052477
