Scintillation Characterization for WAAS in the Auroral Region

Eric Altshuler, Karl Shallberg, B.J. Potter, Todd Walter

Abstract:	Examination of WAAS tracking and cycle slip performance associated with scintillation from the recent solar maximum demonstrated distinct impacts for both the Equatorial and the Auroral regions. The ionospheric mechanisms which drive the behavior in these two regions seem to be fundamentally different. The Equatorial region appears to be driven by the behavior of the Equatorial anomaly, which follows a seasonal cycle. In contrast, the Auroral region appears to be driven by periods of excess ionospheric plasma and periods of high Kp, whenever they may happen throughout the year. Scintillation occurs on roughly a daily basis in the Auroral regions. Receiver L1 signal tracking is much more robust from a standpoint of maintaining lock than the L2 signal, and increasing the receiver phase lock loop bandwidth improves the L1 tracking in the Auroral region. However, WAAS measurement processing appears largely dictated by cycle slip algorithm performance rather than the receiver’s ability to maintain signal tracking. This paper further investigates scintillation behavior in the Auroral region using WAAS measurement data. The focus of this investigation is characterizing the geographic extent of scintillation across WAAS reference stations. This analysis captures not only the area impacted but also the number of stations and satellites as well. Lastly, an artifact of this processing is the impact of RF interference at WAAS reference stations and this also is detailed since it would be of general interest.
Published in:	Proceedings of the 27th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GNSS+ 2014) September 8 - 12, 2014 Tampa Convention Center Tampa, Florida
Pages:	1126 - 1137
Cite this article:	Altshuler, Eric, Shallberg, Karl, Potter, B.J., Walter, Todd, "Scintillation Characterization for WAAS in the Auroral Region," Proceedings of the 27th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GNSS+ 2014), Tampa, Florida, September 2014, pp. 1126-1137.
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