Characterizing Ionospheric Irregularities for Auroral Scintillations

S. Skone, M. Feng, R. Tiwari, A. Coster

Abstract:	High latitude irregularities in electron density have dimensions of meters to kilometers and can cause severe scintillation effects for GNSS signals traveling through this region of the ionosphere. Extreme scintillation effects, and associated degradation or loss of navigation capabilities, have been observed in North America for severe events. Auroral scintillation has been studied for decades, with typically strong phase scintillation and weak amplitude scintillation observed at high latitudes due to the precipitating electrons. Auroral scintillation is most commonly observed at nightside local times. In this paper, we investigate nightside auroral scintillation using data from ground-based scintillation monitors, augmented with COSMIC radio occultation observations. Scintillation events from the year 2007 are identified. GPS observations from the COSMIC satellites are used to infer the presence of ionospheric irregularities at various altitudes using radio occultation techniques. Augmented with ground-based scintillation measurements, the local COSMIC observations are used to determine the approximate vertical extent of irregularities. Results indicate the presence of irregularities over a range of Eand F-region altitudes. Results are applicable to the development of physics-based scintillation simulations - which can ultimately be used to assess GNSS receiver tracking performance.
Published in:	Proceedings of the 22nd International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GNSS 2009) September 22 - 25, 2009 Savannah International Convention Center Savannah, GA
Pages:	2551 - 2558
Cite this article:	Skone, S., Feng, M., Tiwari, R., Coster, A., "Characterizing Ionospheric Irregularities for Auroral Scintillations," Proceedings of the 22nd International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GNSS 2009), Savannah, GA, September 2009, pp. 2551-2558.
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