Open AccessQuantitative evaluation of the low Earth orbit satellite based slant total electron content determination
Author(s) -
Yue Xinan,
Schreiner William S.,
Hunt Douglas C.,
Rocken Christian,
Kuo YingHwa
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
space weather
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.254
H-Index - 56
ISSN - 1542-7390
DOI - 10.1029/2011sw000687
Subject(s) - tec , total electron content , pseudorange , global positioning system , plasmasphere , satellite , remote sensing , geodesy , orbit (dynamics) , environmental science , ionosphere , low earth orbit , orbit determination , gnss applications , computer science , geology , physics , geophysics , aerospace engineering , telecommunications , magnetosphere , plasma , quantum mechanics , astronomy , engineering
With the increased number of low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites equipped with GPS receivers, LEO based GPS observations play a more important role in space weather research because of better global coverage and higher vertical resolution. GPS slant total electron content (TEC) is one of the most important space weather products. In this paper, the LEO based slant TEC derivation method and the main error sources, including the multipath calibration, the leveling of phase to the pseudorange TEC, and the differential code bias (DCB) estimation, are described systematically. It is found that the DCB estimation method based on the spherical symmetry ionosphere assumption can obtain reasonable results by analyzing data from multiple LEO missions. The accuracy of the slant TEC might be enhanced if the temperature dependency of DCB estimation is considered. The calculated slant TEC is validated through comparison with empirical models and analyzing the TEC difference of COSMIC colocated clustered observations during the initial stage. Quantitatively, the accuracy of the LEO slant TEC can be estimated at 1–3 tecu, depending on the mission. Possible use of the LEO GPS data in ionosphere and plasmasphere is discussed.