Open AccessA Multi‐GNSS, Multifrequency, and Near‐Real‐Time Ionospheric TEC Monitoring System for South America
Author(s) -
Mendoza L. P. O.,
Meza A. M.,
Aragón Paz J. M.
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
space weather
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.254
H-Index - 56
ISSN - 1542-7390
DOI - 10.1029/2019sw002187
Subject(s) - tec , gnss applications , nowcasting , total electron content , satellite system , space weather , global positioning system , ionosphere , geomagnetic storm , remote sensing , computer science , precise point positioning , meteorology , environmental science , earth's magnetic field , real time computing , geodesy , geology , geography , telecommunications , geophysics , physics , quantum mechanics , magnetic field
Taking advantage of the public Global Navigational Satellite Systems (GNSS) infrastructure in South America, an operational monitoring system for the total electron content (TEC) in the ionosphere has been developed. It incorporates data in near real time, from more than 90 GNSS satellites tracked by more than 200 ground stations. In turn, the system produces every 15 min a snapshot, that is a map, of the current state of the regional ionosphere, which is immediately available online. These maps could be employed, for example, to augment positioning with single‐frequency GNSS receivers. They could also be combined with similar products in order to obtain weighted and reliable regional TEC maps, even in near real time. Most importantly, these products could be employed as data input in space environment forecasting and nowcasting models, given their very short latency of just a few minutes. In order to assess the response of the whole system to severe geomagnetic disturbances, the performance of the whole monitoring system during an actual geomagnetic storm has been investigated. The results suggest that the near‐real‐time system should be quite capable to monitor the regional TEC at a high temporal rate even under such conditions.