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Register a new userA case study of the mid-latitude GPS performance at nighttime during the magnetic storm of July 15, 2000
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Using the geomagnetic storm of July 15, 2000 as an example, we investigated the dependence of GPS navigation system performance on the nightside at mid-latitudes on the level of geomagnetic disturbance. The investigation was based on the data from the global GPS system available through the Internet. It was shown that the number of GPS phase slips increases with the increasing level of disturbance and that there is a good correlation between the rate of Dst-variation and the frequency of slips. It was further shown that the relative frequency of slips has also a clearly pronounced aspect dependence. Phase slips of the GPS signal can be caused by the scattering from small-scale irregularities of the ionospheric E-layer. Phase slip characteristics are indicative of Farley-Buneman instabilities as a plausible physical mechanism that is responsible for the formation of geomagnetic field-aligned irregularities. Using simultaneous measurements of backscatter signal characteristics from the Irkutsk incoherent scatter radar and existing models for such irregularities, we estimated the order of magnitude of the expected phase fluctuations of the GPS signal at a few degrees.
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Basic properties of the mid-latitude large-scale traveling ionospheric disturbances (LS TIDs) during the maximum phase of a strong magnetic storm of 6-8 April 2000 are shown. Total electron content (TEC) variations were studied by using data from GPS receivers located in Russia and Central Asia. The nightglow response to this storm at mesopause and termospheric altitudes was also measured by optical instruments FENIX located at the observatory of the Institute of Solar-Terrestrial Physics, (51.9 deg. N, 103.0 deg. E) and MORTI located at the observatory of the Institute of Ionosphere (43.2 deg. N, 77.0 deg. E). Observations of the O (557.7 nm, 630.0 nm, 360-410 nm, and 720-830 nm) emissions originating from atmospheric layers centered at altitudes of 90 km, 97 km, and 250 km were carried out at Irkutsk and of the O_2 (866.5 nm) emission originating from an atmospheric layer centered at altitude of 95 km was carried out at Almaty. Variations of the f_0F2 and virtual altitude of the F2 layer were measured at Almaty as well. An analysis of data was performed for the time interval 17.00-21.00 UT comprising a maximum of the Dst derivative. Results have shown that the storm-induced solitary large-scale wave with duration of 1 hour and with the front width of 5000 km moved equatorward with the velocity of 200 ms-1 to a distance of no less than 1000 km. The TEC disturbance, basically displaying an electron content depression in the maximum of the F2 region, reveals a good correlation with growing nightglow emission, the temporal shift between the TEC and emission variation maxima being different for different altitudes.
Protons accelerated to relativistic energies by transient solar and interplanetary phenomena caused a ground-level cosmic ray enhancement on 14 July 2000, Bastille Day. Near-Earth spacecraft measured the proton flux directly and ground-based observatories measured the secondary responses to higher energy protons. We have modelled the arrival of these relativistic protons at Earth using a technique which deduces the spectrum, arrival direction and anisotropy of the high-energy protons that produce increased responses in neutron monitors. To investigate the acceleration processes involved we have employed theoretical shock and stochastic acceleration spectral forms in our fits to spacecraft and neutron monitor data. During the rising phase of the event (10:45 UT and 10:50 UT) we find that the spectrum between 140 MeV and 4 GeV is best fitted by a shock acceleration spectrum. In contrast, the spectrum at the peak (10:55 UT and 11:00 UT) and in the declining phase (11:40 UT) is best fitted with a stochastic acceleration spectrum. We propose that at least two acceleration processes were responsible for the production of relativistic protons during the Bastille Day solar event: (1) protons were accelerated to relativistic energies by a shock, presumably a coronal mass ejection (CME). (2) protons were also accelerated to relativistic energies by stochastic processes initiated by magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) turbulence.
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E.L. Afraimovich
, V.V. Demyanov
, T.N. Kondakova (Institute ofn Solar-Terrestrial Physics
2002
The GPS performance is impaired in conditions of geomagnetic distrubances. The rms error of positioning accuracy increases in the case where two-frequency GPS receivers of three main types (ASHTECH, TRIMBLE, and AOA) are in operation. For ASHTECH receivers (unlike AOA and TRIMBLE) there is also a clear correlation between the slip density of the one- and two-frequency modes of positioning and the level of geomagnetic disturbance.
Accurate measurement of the local component of geodetic motion at GPS stations presents a challenge due to the need to separate this signal from the tectonic plate rotation. A pressing example is the observation of glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA) which constrains the Earths response to ice unloading, and hence, contributions of ice-covered regions such as Antarctica to global sea level rise following ice mass loss. We focus on horizontal GPS velocities which typically contain a large component of plate rotation and a smaller local component primarily relating to GIA. Incomplete separation of these components introduces significant bias into estimates of GIA motion vectors. We present the results of a series of tests based on the motions of GPS stations from East Antarctica: 1) signal separation for sets of synthetic data that replicate the geometric character of non-separable, and separable, GIA-like horizontal velocities; and 2) signal separation for real GPS station data with an appraisal of uncertainties. For both synthetic and real motions, we compare results where the stations are unweighted, and where each station is areal-weighted using a metric representing the inverse of the spatial density of neighbouring stations. From the synthetic tests, we show that a GIA-like signal is recoverable from the plate rotation signal providing it has geometric variability across East Antarctica. We also show that areal-weighting has a very significant effect on the ability to recover a GIA-like signal with geometric variability, and hence on separating the plate rotation and local components. For the real data, assuming a rigid Antarctic plate, fitted plate rotation parameters compare well with other studies in the literature. We find that 25 out of 36 GPS stations examined in East Antarctica have non-zero local horizontal velocities, at the 2$sigma$ level, after signal separation.
Reaching the thermal noise at low frequencies with the next generation of instruments (e.g. SKA, LOFAR etc.) is going to be a challenge. It requires the development of more advanced techniques of calibration compared to those used from the traditional radio astronomy until now. This revolution has slowly started, from self-cal, going through field based correction and SPAM up to the formulation and application of a general Measurement Equation. We will describe and compare the several approaches of calibration used so far to reduce low frequency data. We will present some results of a 74 MHz VLA observation in exceptional ionospheric conditions of the giant radio galaxy 3C326 for which some of these methods have been successfully applied.
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