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Leveraging Geodetic GPS Receivers for Ionospheric Scintillation Science
Author(s) -
Mrak Sebastijan,
Semeter Joshua,
Nishimura Yukitoshi,
Rodrigues Fabiano S.,
Coster Anthea J.,
Groves Keith
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
radio science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.371
H-Index - 84
eISSN - 1944-799X
pISSN - 0048-6604
DOI - 10.1029/2020rs007131
Subject(s) - scintillation , interplanetary scintillation , remote sensing , environmental science , geology , meteorology , geography , physics , optics , detector , solar wind , coronal mass ejection , quantum mechanics , magnetic field
We demonstrate scintillation analysis from a network of geodetic Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers which provide data at 1‐second resolution. We introduce proxy phase ( σ T E C ) and amplitude ( S N R 4 ) scintillation indices and validate them against the rate of change of TEC index (ROTI) and S 4 . Additionally, we validate scintillation observations against a Connected Autonomous Space Environment Sensor scintillation receiver. We develop receiver‐dependent scintillation event thresholding using hardware‐dependent noise variance. We analyze 6 days adjacent to the 7–8 September 2017 geomagnetic storm, using 169 receivers covering magnetic latitudes between 15° and 65° in the American longitude sector. We leverage the available spatial sampling coverage to construct 2‐D maps of scintillation and present episodic evolution of scintillation intensifications during the storm. We show that low‐latitude and high‐latitude scintillation morphology match well‐established scintillation climatology patterns. At midlatitudes, spatiotemporal evolution of scintillation partially agrees with known scintillation patterns. Additionally, the results reveal previously undocumented midlatitude scintillation‐producing structures. The results provide an unprecedented view into the spatiotemporal development of scintillation‐producing plasma irregularities and provide a resource to further exploit scintillation evolution at large spatial scales.