GPS Receiver Performance Characterization Under Simulated Ionospheric Scintillation Environments II

Thomas N. Morrissey, Karl W. Shallberg, A. J. Van Dierendonck, Taehwan Kim, and Matthew J. Nicholson

Abstract:	It is well known that ionospheric scintillation has the potential to affect all types of GPS receivers, even dualfrequency PPS versions. In a previous effort, the degree of degradation to WAAS operation caused by scintillation, based upon simulated data input to an actual WAAS reference receiver under carefully controlled laboratory conditions at SPAWAR, was analyzed and reported [1]. This degradation is manifested in increased errors for carrier phase and code range measurements and in a higher probability of loss of GPS signal track. However, the results supported the assessment that scintillation should not be a problem for WAAS receivers in CONUS, except perhaps during the very rare occurrence of a “Great Geomagnetic Storm”. The previous work was briefed in a number of fora and a detailed report was widely distributed throughout the ionospheric community, along with a request for identification of any “gaps” in the results that could be addressed with further testing. From the feedback received, the following tests were conducted in November 2001 and are reported here: (a) tests with long duration, deep amplitude nulls, corresponding to the GPS signal moving with the ionospheric disturbance (b) tests of a EMAGR side-by-side with the WAAS receiver, with emphasis on maintaining lock at L1; and (c) tests at values of input CNR lower (i.e., down to 36 dB-Hz) than those used in the original tests. These tests made substantial use of 50 Hz Ionospheric Scintillation Monitor (ISM) data previously collected by the US Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) at Ascension Island.
Published in:	Proceedings of the 2002 National Technical Meeting of The Institute of Navigation January 28 - 30, 2002 The Catamaran Resort Hotel San Diego, CA
Pages:	682 - 693
Cite this article:	Morrissey, Thomas N., Shallberg, Karl W., Van Dierendonck, A. J., Kim, Taehwan, Nicholson, Matthew J., "GPS Receiver Performance Characterization Under Simulated Ionospheric Scintillation Environments II," Proceedings of the 2002 National Technical Meeting of The Institute of Navigation, San Diego, CA, January 2002, pp. 682-693.
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