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TEC

About: TEC is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 5119 publications have been published within this topic receiving 84696 citations.


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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the impact of scintillation on DGPS and EGNOS users, and on different GPS receiver technologies, was investigated in a Northern European network, covering geographic latitudes from 53° to 70° N approximately, where four GPS Ionospheric Scintillation and Total Electron Content (TEC) Monitor receivers (the NovAtel/AJ Systems GSV4004) have been deployed at stations in the UK and Norway.
Abstract: Extensive ionospheric scintillation and Total Electron Content (TEC) data were collected by the Institute of Engineering Surveying and Space Geodesy (IESSG) in Northern Europe during years of great impact of the solar maximum on GNSS users (2001–2003). The ionospheric TEC is responsible for range errors due to its time delay effect on transionospheric signals. Electron density irregularities in the ionosphere, occurring frequently during these years, are responsible for (phase and amplitude) fluctuations on GNSS signals, known as ionospheric scintillation. Since June 2001 four GPS Ionospheric Scintillation and TEC Monitor receivers (the NovAtel/AJ Systems GSV4004) have been deployed at stations in the UK and Norway, forming a Northern European network, covering geographic latitudes from 53° to 70° N approximately. These receivers compute and record GPS phase and amplitude scintillation parameters, as well as TEC and TEC variations. The project involved setting up the network and developing automated archiving and data analysis strategies, aiming to study the impact of scintillation on DGPS and EGNOS users, and on different GPS receiver technologies. In order to characterise scintillation and TEC variations over Northern Europe, as well as investigate correlation with geomagnetic activity, long-term statistical analyses were also produced. This paper summarises our findings, providing an overview of the potential implications of ionospheric scintillation for the GNSS user in Northern Europe.

69 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors used the Millstone Hill incoherent scatter radar database to investigate the spatial extent and temporal evolution of TEC and density altitude/latitude structure at middle and subauroral latitudes as a function of solar cycle, local time, and level of geomagnetic activity.
Abstract: The subauroral ionosphere, at the magnetic latitudes which characterize the northeastern United States, is subject to severe F region ionospheric density structuring due to the space weather effects of magnetospheric disturbance electric fields. Communications and navigation systems relying on transionospheric propagation must be able to compensate for the effects of the sharp changes (>10X) in total electron content (TEC) associated with the ionospheric trough and storm time disturbance effects at midlatitudes. The Millstone Hill incoherent scatter radar database has been used to investigate the spatial extent and temporal evolution of TEC and density altitude/latitude structure at middle and subauroral latitudes as a function of solar cycle, local time, and level of geomagnetic activity. More than 11,000 radar elevation scans covering >20° of latitude and altitudes between 150 and 750 km have been used to identify the characteristics of the density gradient near the equatorward edge of the ionospheric trough in a variety of circumstances spanning 20 years and two solar cycles. Pronounced density gradients can be identified in ∼35% of the Millstone Hill scans, and we present a statistical characterization of average magnitude and location for these steepest TEC gradients. In some cases (especially near noon) the equatorward edge of the trough lies poleward of our observational field of view, and gradients associated with phenomena other than the trough contribute to our statistics. On most days the trough appears in the radar scans between 1600 and 2000 magnetic local time (MLT). Larger TEC gradients occur at solar maximum and when the background TEC is higher. The steepest gradients occur in an environment of high TEC (at solar maximum and adjacent to regions of storm-enhanced density (SED)), when the processes which generate the trough are strongest (high Kp). High gradient values occur in the sunlit sector, with maximum values of TEC gradient (∼10 TEC/deg latitude, with 1 TEC unit = 10 16 el m -2 ) found in the postnoon ionosphere. Mean solar maximum TEC gradient at 1600 MLT is 3-4 TEC/deg for Kp 100 over New England and TEC gradients of ∼50 TEC/deg.

69 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors estimate the total electron content (TEC) along the ray path between satellite and receiver using about ten Euro- pean GPS receiving stations of the International GPS Service for Geodynamics (IGS), the TEC over Europe is estimated within the geographic ranges.
Abstract: When travelling through the ionosphere the signals of space-based radio navigation systems such as the Global Positioning System (GPS) are subject to modifica- tions in amplitude, phase and polarization. In particular, phase changes due to refraction lead to propagation er- rors 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 contribu- tions of the ionosphere can be determined and removed by di⁄erence methods. The ionospheric contribution is pro- portional to the total electron content (TEC) along the ray path between satellite and receiver. Using about ten Euro- pean GPS receiving stations of the International GPS Service for Geodynamics (IGS), the TEC over Europe is estimated within the geographic ranges!20i4j440iE and 32.5i4/470iN in longitude and latitude, respec- tively. 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 com- bination of EISCAT data and GPS-derived TEC data enables a better understanding of large-scale ionospheric processes.

69 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors provide a succinct summary of recent observations obtained using the LISN GPS receivers and complemented with measurements from other instruments and GPS receivers that operate in South America.
Abstract: [1] The Low-Latitude Ionospheric Sensor Network (LISN) is a distributed observatory designed to nowcast the state and dynamics of the low-latitude ionosphere and to develop forecasts of the electric fields, densities, and equatorial spread F over the South American continent. The LISN observatory consists of three different types of instruments: GPS receivers, fluxgate magnetometers, and vertical incidence pulsed ionospheric radar (VIPIR) ionosondes. This report provides a succinct summary of recent observations obtained using the LISN GPS receivers and complemented with measurements from other instruments and GPS receivers that operate in South America. More specifically, the following are shown here: (1) observations of total electron content (TEC) enhancements that occur near local midnight, (2) maps of TEC perturbations associated with the passage of traveling ionospheric disturbances over South America, and (3) statistics of TEC depletions for 2 years of low solar activity. Near-midnight TEC enhancements consist of sudden increases in TEC that occur after sunset at low latitudes on 30% of the days. These TEC enhancements last for several hours and can have amplitudes between 1 and 50 TEC units. On 11–12 March 2011 the largest TEC enhancement was observed in South America at times when the Jicamarca incoherent scatter radar operated and observed peak densities above 106 el/cc at 300 km altitude. It is suggested that a combination of zonal electric fields and meridional neutral winds are able to redistribute the plasma along the field lines and create regions of enhanced TEC. Maps of TEC perturbations associated with the passage of gravity waves (GWs) over South America have been used to measure the phase velocity and direction of propagation of GWs. The large number of GPS receivers over South America has allowed us to record bubble events for every day during 2008 and 2009. It was found that the number of TEC depletion detections varies with a periodicity of 28 days. It is mentioned how these new observations and the installation of the last four VIPIR ionosondes will lead to new discoveries in the near future.

69 citations


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Performance
Metrics
No. of papers in the topic in previous years
YearPapers
2023303
2022578
2021284
2020321
2019293
2018272