University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Spaced Receiver Technique to Estimate the Ionospheric Zonal Velocity

Saikia, Isankar

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/46537

Description

Title
Spaced Receiver Technique to Estimate the Ionospheric Zonal Velocity
Author(s)
Saikia, Isankar
Contributor(s)
Makela, Jonathan J.
Issue Date
2011-12
Keyword(s)
  • antennas
  • antenna coupling
  • antenna parasitics
Abstract
Equatorial spread F (ESF) is a very important phenomenon of the plasma in the Earth’s ionosphere. Rigorous research has been done in the past to understand this phenomenon. When radio waves used for communication purposes pass through the plasma, they are scattered and the signal is lost. A process called scintillation occurs when a plane wave traverses an irregularities region containing fluctuations in the refractive index. Spaced GPS receivers can be used to measure the velocity of the scintillations, using a cross correlation technique. Experiments were conducted at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO), Chile to study the spaced receiver technique. Radio scintillations at GPS L1 frequency were monitored using two east-west spaced GPS receivers. The average zonal irregularity velocity is estimated using multiple GPS satellites data in the Airglow UIUC database over a 2 month period from December 2010 to January 2011. The average zonal velocity ranges from 90 to 180 m/s, which agree with other techniques used to study the zonal drift velocity of ESF irregularities.
Type of Resource
text
Language
en
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http://hdl.handle.net/2142/46537

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