Publication Date:
2022-05-04
Description:
Ionospheric scintillation is caused by irregularities in the ionospheric electron density. The
characterization of ionospheric irregularities is important to further our understanding of the underlying
physics. Our goal is to characterize the intermediate (0.1–10 km) to medium (10–100 km) scale
high-latitude irregularities which are likely to produce these scintillations. In this paper, we characterize
irregularities observed by Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) during a geomagnetically active
period on 9 March 2012. For this purpose, along with the measurements, we are using the recently
developed model: “Satellite-beacon Ionospheric-scintillation Global Model of the upper Atmosphere”
(SIGMA). The model is particularly applicable at high latitudes as it accounts for the complicated geometry
of the magnetic field lines in these regions and is presented in an earlier paper. We use an inverse modeling
technique to derive irregularity parameters by comparing the high rate (50 Hz) GNSS observations to the
modeled outputs. In this investigation, we consider experimental observations from both the northern and
southern high latitudes. The results include predominance of phase scintillations compared to amplitude
scintillations that imply the presence of larger-scale irregularities of sizes above the Fresnel scale at GPS
frequencies, and the spectral index ranges from 2.4 to 4.2 and the RMS number density ranges from 3e11 to
2.3e12 el/m3. The best fits we obtained from our inverse method that considers only weak scattering mostly
agree with the observations. Finally, we suggest some improvements in order to facilitate the possibility of
accomplishing a unique solution to such inverse problems.
Description:
Published
Description:
9188–9203
Description:
2A. Fisica dell'alta atmosfera
Description:
JCR Journal
Repository Name:
Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV)
Type:
article
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