Measurement and Analysis of Artificially-Generated and Natural Ionosphere Scintillations Effects on GNSS Signals

W. Pelgrum, J. Morton, F. van Graas, S. Gunawardena, M. Bakich, D. Chemey, S. Peng, J. Triplett, A. Vermuru, P. Vikram

Abstract:	Ionosphere scintillations can cause significant amplitude and/or phase fluctuations of GNSS signals, which degrades GNSS signal tracking in terms of accuracy and reliability. This paper presents a GNSS data collection system for the purpose of gathering ionosphere scintillation data at high latitude regions under both artificially and naturally disturbed ionosphere conditions. Commercial receiver measurements of the GPS signal carrier to noise ratio, S4, relative TEC, and carrier phases obtained using the data collection system are presented in the paper. Preliminary analysis of these data showed that artificial heating of the ionosphere can only generate amplitude-only scintillations when the GPS signal path is near the magnetic zenith. Natural scintillations occur in diverse areas with both amplitude and phase scintillations being present.
Published in:	Proceedings of the 2011 International Technical Meeting of The Institute of Navigation January 24 - 26, 2011 Catamaran Resort Hotel San Diego, CA
Pages:	950 - 958
Cite this article:	Pelgrum, W., Morton, J., van Graas, F., Gunawardena, S., Bakich, M., Chemey, D., Peng, S., Triplett, J., Vermuru, A., Vikram, P., "Measurement and Analysis of Artificially-Generated and Natural Ionosphere Scintillations Effects on GNSS Signals," Proceedings of the 2011 International Technical Meeting of The Institute of Navigation, San Diego, CA, January 2011, pp. 950-958.
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