GPS Signal Corruption by the Discrete Aurora: Precise Measurements From the Mahali Experiment

被引:24
作者
Semeter, Joshua [1 ,2 ]
Mrak, Sebastijan [1 ,2 ]
Hirsch, Michael [1 ,2 ]
Swoboda, John [1 ,2 ]
Akbari, Hassan [1 ,2 ]
Starr, Gregory [1 ,2 ]
Hampton, Don [3 ]
Erickson, Philip [4 ]
Lind, Frank [4 ]
Coster, Anthea [4 ]
Pankratius, Victor [4 ]
机构
[1] Boston Univ, Dept Elect & Comp Engn, Boston, MA 02215 USA
[2] Boston Univ, Ctr Space Phys, Boston, MA 02215 USA
[3] Univ Alaska Fairbanks, Inst Geophys, Fairbanks, AK 99775 USA
[4] MIT, Haystack Observ, 77 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139 USA
基金
美国国家科学基金会;
关键词
PHASE SCINTILLATION; DEGRADATION; INSTABILITY; MODEL;
D O I
10.1002/2017GL073570
中图分类号
P [天文学、地球科学];
学科分类号
07 ;
摘要
Measurements from a dense network of GPS receivers have been used to clarify the relationship between substorm auroras and GPS signal corruption as manifested by loss of lock on the received signal. A network of nine receivers was deployed along roadways near the Poker Flat Research Range in central Alaska, with receiver spacing between 15 and 30km. Instances of large-amplitude phase fluctuations and signal loss of lock were registered in space and time with auroral forms associated with a sequence of westward traveling surges associated with a substorm onset over central Canada. The following conclusions were obtained: (1) The signal corruption originated in the ionospheric E region, between 100 and 150km altitude, and (2) the GPS links suffering loss of lock were confined to a narrow band (<20km wide) along the trailing edge of the moving auroral forms. The results are discussed in the context of mechanisms typically cited to account for GPS phase scintillation by auroral processes. Plain Language Summary We deployed a network of GPS receivers to central Alaska to study the effects of the aurora on GPS signals. We mapped the locations of instances where the receiver lost lock on the GPS signal and found that these occurrences were clustered along the edges of auroral arcs associated with dynamic space weather events (in this case, during a so-called geomagnetic substorm). The loss of signal lock was due to interactions between the GPS signal and small-scale density irregularities in the ionosphere. This result helps us understand where these irregularities occur.
引用
收藏
页码:9539 / 9546
页数:8
相关论文
共 37 条
[1]   NEW MODEL FOR INTERACTION OF AURORAL ELECTRONS WITH ATMOSPHERE - SPECTRAL DEGRADATION, BACKSCATTER, OPTICAL EMISSION, AND IONIZATION [J].
BANKS, PM ;
CHAPPELL, CR ;
NAGY, AF .
JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH, 1974, 79 (10) :1459-1470
[2]   Optical flow analysis of the aurora borealis [J].
Blixt, EM ;
Semeter, J ;
Ivchenko, N .
IEEE GEOSCIENCE AND REMOTE SENSING LETTERS, 2006, 3 (01) :159-163
[3]   AURORAL ARC THICKNESSES AS PREDICTED BY VARIOUS THEORIES [J].
BOROVSKY, JE .
JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-SPACE PHYSICS, 1993, 98 (A4) :6101-6138
[4]   Three-dimensional modeling of high-latitude scintillation observations [J].
Chartier, Alex ;
Forte, Biagio ;
Deshpande, Kshitija ;
Bust, Gary ;
Mitchell, Cathryn .
RADIO SCIENCE, 2016, 51 (07) :1022-1029
[5]   Motion of aurorae [J].
Chaston, Christopher C. ;
Seki, Kanako ;
Sakanoi, Takeshi ;
Asamura, Kazushi ;
Hirahara, Masafumi .
GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS, 2010, 37
[6]   The optical manifestation of dispersive field-aligned bursts in auroral breakup arcs [J].
Dahlgren, H. ;
Semeter, J. L. ;
Marshall, R. A. ;
Zettergren, M. .
JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-SPACE PHYSICS, 2013, 118 (07) :4572-4582
[7]   First light from a kilometer-baseline Scintillation Auroral GPS Array [J].
Datta-Barua, S. ;
Su, Y. ;
Deshpande, K. ;
Miladinovich, D. ;
Bust, G. S. ;
Hampton, D. ;
Crowley, G. .
GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS, 2015, 42 (10) :3639-3646
[8]   A PLASMA INSTABILITY RESULTING IN FIELD-ALIGNED IRREGULARITIES IN IONOSPHERE [J].
FARLEY, DT .
JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH, 1963, 68 (22) :6083-+
[9]   IONOSPHERIC IRREGULARITIES [J].
FEJER, BG ;
KELLEY, MC .
REVIEWS OF GEOPHYSICS, 1980, 18 (02) :401-454
[10]   Problems in data treatment for ionospheric scintillation measurements [J].
Forte, B ;
Radicella, SM .
RADIO SCIENCE, 2002, 37 (06) :8-1