scholarly journals Tracking the Ionospheric Response to the Solar Eclipse of November 03, 2013

2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emirant Bertillas Amabayo ◽  
Simon Katrini Anguma ◽  
Edward Jurua

The ionospheric dynamics is highly influenced by the solar radiation. During a solar eclipse, the moon occults the solar radiation from reaching the ionosphere, which may drastically affect the variability of the ionosphere. The variability of total electron content (TEC) observed by dual frequency Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers has made it possible to study effects of solar eclipse on the ionosphere. Total eclipse occurred on November 03, 2013, and the maximum amplitude was visible at Owiny in northern Uganda. Ionospheric behavior during this eclipse was analysed by using TEC data archived at Mbarara (MBAR), Malindi (MAL2), Eldoret (MOIU), and Kigali University (NURK) International GPS Satellite (IGS) stations. TEC variations of four consecutive days were used to study instantaneous changes of TEC during the eclipse event. The results generally show TEC decrease at the four stations. However, a maximum perturbation amplitude of ≥20 TECU was observed at MAL2 (18:00–20:00 UT) which is further south of the equator than the other stations. TEC enhancement and depletion were observed during the totality of the eclipse at MOIU, MBAR, NURK, and MAL2 (13:00–15:00 UT). This study found out that the ionospheric TEC over East Africa was modified by wave-like energy and momentum transport and obscuration of the solar disc due to the total solar eclipse.

Sensors ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 1551
Author(s):  
Zihuai Guo ◽  
Yibin Yao ◽  
Jian Kong ◽  
Gang Chen ◽  
Chen Zhou ◽  
...  

Global navigation satellite system (GNSS) can provide dual-frequency observation data, which can be used to effectively calculate total electron content (TEC). Numerical studies have utilized GNSS-derived TEC to evaluate the accuracy of ionospheric empirical models, such as the International Reference Ionosphere model (IRI) and the NeQuick model. However, most studies have evaluated vertical TEC rather than slant TEC (STEC), which resulted in the introduction of projection error. Furthermore, since there are few GNSS observation stations available in the Antarctic region and most are concentrated in the Antarctic continent edge, it is difficult to evaluate modeling accuracy within the entire Antarctic range. Considering these problems, in this study, GNSS STEC was calculated using dual-frequency observation data from stations that almost covered the Antarctic continent. By comparison with GNSS STEC, the accuracy of IRI-2016 and NeQuick2 at different latitudes and different solar radiation was evaluated during 2016–2017. The numerical results showed the following. (1) Both IRI-2016 and NeQuick2 underestimated the STEC. Since IRI-2016 utilizes new models to represent the F2-peak height (hmF2) directly, the IRI-2016 STEC is closer to GNSS STEC than NeQuick2. This conclusion was also confirmed by the Constellation Observing System for Meteorology Ionosphere and Climate (COSMIC) occultation data. (2) The differences in STEC of the two models are both normally distributed, and the NeQuick2 STEC is systematically biased as solar radiation increases. (3) The root mean square error (RMSE) of the IRI-2016 STEC is smaller than that of the NeQuick2 model, and the RMSE of the two modeling STEC increases with solar radiation intensity. Since IRI-2016 relies on new hmF2 models, it is more stable than NeQuick2.


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 102-109
Author(s):  
B. D. Ghimire ◽  
N. P. Chapagain ◽  
V. Basnet ◽  
B. Khadka

Dual frequency Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver in two nearby stations i.e. BESI (28.228 °N, 84.739 °E) and GHER (28.375 °N, 84.739 °E) located at almost same latitude and longitude are used to measure ionospheric total electron content (TEC) for the year 2015. Since Year of 2014- 2016 have been known as most active years in terms of geomagnetic events, the year 2015 shows some abnormal results. Diurnal, monthly and seasonal variations of GPS TEC have been studied. The difference in the value of TEC is observed between quiet and disturbed days. Moreover, the correlation between GPS-data of each month with solar activities parameters such as Kp index, disturbance storm time (Dst) index, and Solar Flux index (F10.7 cm) have been studied, separately for quiet and disturbed days for each station. In case of diurnal variation, mean TEC varies from 0100 UT (LT= UT+5:45) to maximum from 0900 UT to 1100UT. The value of TEC is observed higher on quiet days than disturbed days. For seasonal variation, local seasons i.e. autumn, Spring, Summer and Winter is taken and, the value of TEC is found to be higher in Spring (March, April and May) in both stations in quiet and disturbed days. The difference in value of quiet and disturbed days of GPS-TEC explained the geomagnetic phenomena difference in these days in ionosphere. This study can be useful to calculate the water vapor concentration in the atmosphere which is useful for weather prediction and meteorological department.


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 54-59
Author(s):  
A. N. Shrestha ◽  
Y. Migoya-Orue

This paper explores the ionospheric response in terms of Total Electron Content (TEC) during the 22 July 2009 Total Solar Eclipse. Using the data stored at Biratnagar (BRN2), Ramite (RMTE), Dhangadhi (DNGD), Nepalganj (NPGJ), and Taplejung (TPLJ) Global Positioning System (GPS) stations, the ionospheric activity was investigated through changes in TEC. Our research is based on GPS-TEC measurements from a widely dispersed GPS network across various geographical locations in Nepal, taking place on July 17-21 as a pre-event, July 22 as the main event, and July 23-27 as a post-event. The analysis reveals that the reduction in the TEC level is proportional to the magnitude of the total solar eclipse. The variation of the TEC depends on latitude as well as longitude. We found that TEC depletion was up to 5% from pre-event to main-event and up to 30% from main-event to post-event during the totality of the eclipse. The eclipse was accompanied by the 10-hour geomagnetic storm in Nepal, which was the explanation for the TEC upgrade to 50% on the main event day from pre-event and decreased by 25% from main-event to post-event. The result obtained in this work demonstrates the influence of the eclipse/storm on the variation of TEC.


Author(s):  
Dominic Chukwuebuka Obiegbuna ◽  
Francisca Nneka Okeke ◽  
Kingsley Chukwudi Okpala ◽  
Orji Prince Orji ◽  
Gregory Ibeabuchi Egba ◽  
...  

We have studied and compared the effects of full and partial halo geomagnetic storms on the high latitude ionosphere. The study used the total electron content (TEC) data obtained from the global positioning system (GPS) to examine the level of response of high latitude ionosphere around Ny Alesund, Norway to full and partial halo geomagnetic storms of June 23rd 2015 and January 1st 2016 respectively. This study was carried out using a dual frequency ground based GNSS observations at high latitude (NYAL: 78.56oN, 11.52oE) ionospheric station in Norway. The vertical TEC (VTEC) was extracted from Receiver Independent Exchange (RINEX) formatted GPS-TEC data using the GOPI Software developed by Seemala Gopi. The GOPI software is a GNSS-TEC analysis program which uses ephemeris data and differential code biases (DCBs) in estimating slant TEC (STEC) prior to its conversion to VTEC. From the results, the responses of the high latitude before the storm days were more positive than on the storm days. Also the overall response of the high latitude to the full halo geomagnetic storm was more positive with more impact than that of the partial halo geomagnetic storm.


1996 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Zarraoa ◽  
E. Sardón

Abstract. The Global Positioning System (GPS) observables are affected by the ionosphere. The dispersive nature of this effect and the use of two frequencies in the GPS observations make possible to measure the ionospheric total electron content (TEC) from dual frequency GPS data. In this work we test the concept of permanent monitoring of TEC using a network of GPS receivers at high latitudes. We have used GPS data from five permanent receivers in Scandinavia, from 1-30 January 1994, with geographic latitudes ranging from 57.4°N to 78.9°N. The results show the capability of the method to monitor the evolution of TEC as a function of time and geographical location. We have detected night-time enhancements almost every night for some of the stations, and we have also been able to produce maps of the instantaneous TEC as a function of both latitude and longitude around the GPS network. We also present some of the current limitations in the use of GPS for estimating TEC at high latitudes such as the difficulties in solving for cycle-slips, and the necessity of reliable values for the receiver and satellite differential instrumental biases.


2015 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 35-39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Олег Горбачев ◽  
Oleg Gorbachev ◽  
Всеволод Иванов ◽  
Vsevolod Ivanov ◽  
Андрей Холмогоров ◽  
...  

The paper objective is to demonstrate the possibility of studying irregular variations of the total electron content (TEC) of the ionosphere using GPS data of single-frequency measurements. This is considered by the example of registering the time behavior of the oblique TEC during the 20 March 2015 solar eclipse. As the initial data, we used single-frequency and dual-frequency phase and code measurements from the station MORP which is a part of the International IGS Network. As a result, by comparing the data of TEC time courses for two modes it is shown both qualitative agreement (TEC significant decrease during the eclipse) and quantitative agreement of results after appropriate treatment.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Baocheng Zhang ◽  
Chuanbao Zhao ◽  
Robert Odolinski ◽  
Teng Liu

AbstractPrecise Point Positioning (PPP), initially developed for the analysis of the Global Positing System (GPS) data from a large geodetic network, gradually becomes an effective tool for positioning, timing, remote sensing of atmospheric water vapor, and monitoring of Earth’s ionospheric Total Electron Content (TEC). The previous studies implicitly assumed that the receiver code biases stay constant over time in formulating the functional model of PPP. In this contribution, it is shown this assumption is not always valid and can lead to the degradation of PPP performance, especially for Slant TEC (STEC) retrieval and timing. For this reason, the PPP functional model is modified by taking into account the time-varying receiver code biases of the two frequencies. It is different from the Modified Carrier-to-Code Leveling (MCCL) method which can only obtain the variations of Receiver Differential Code Biases (RDCBs), i.e., the difference between the two frequencies’ code biases. In the Modified PPP (MPPP) model, the temporal variations of the receiver code biases become estimable and their adverse impacts on PPP parameters, such as ambiguity parameters, receiver clock offsets, and ionospheric delays, are mitigated. This is confirmed by undertaking numerical tests based on the real dual-frequency GPS data from a set of global continuously operating reference stations. The results imply that the variations of receiver code biases exhibit a correlation with the ambient temperature. With the modified functional model, an improvement by 42% to 96% is achieved in the Differences of STEC (DSTEC) compared to the original PPP model with regard to the reference values of those derived from the Geometry-Free (GF) carrier phase observations. The medium and long term (1 × 104 to 1.5 × 104 s) frequency stability of receiver clocks are also significantly improved.


2007 ◽  
Vol 7 (18) ◽  
pp. 4943-4951 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. S. Zerefos ◽  
E. Gerasopoulos ◽  
I. Tsagouri ◽  
B. E. Psiloglou ◽  
A. Belehaki ◽  
...  

Abstract. This study aims at providing experimental evidence, to support the hypothesis according to which the movement of the moon's shadow sweeping the ozone layer at supersonic speed, during a solar eclipse, creates gravity waves in the atmosphere. An experiment was conducted to study eclipse induced thermal fluctuations in the ozone layer (via measurements of total ozone column, ozone photolysis rates and UV irradiance), the ionosphere (Ionosonde Total Electron Content – ITEC, peak electron density height – hmF2), and the troposphere (temperature, relative humidity), before, during and after the total solar eclipse of 29 March 2006. We found the existence of eclipse induced dominant oscillations in the parameters related to the ozone layer and the ionosphere, with periods ranging between 30–40 min. Cross-spectrum analyses resulted to statistically significant square coherences between the observed oscillations, strengthening thermal stratospheric ozone forcing as the main mechanism for GWs. Additional support for a source below the ionosphere was provided by the amplitude of the oscillations in the ionospheric electron density, which increased upwards from 160 to 220 km height. Even though similar oscillations were shown in surface temperature and relative humidity data, no clear evidence for tropospheric influence could be derived from this study, due to the modest amplitude of these waves and the manifold rationale inside the boundary layer.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document