Performance evaluation of GPS receiver under equatorial scintillation

Abstract

Equatorial scintillation is a phenomenon that occurs daily in the equatorial region after the sunset and affects radio signals that propagate through the ionosphere. Depending on the temporal and spatial situation, equatorial scintillation can represent a problem in the availability and precision of the Global Positioning System (GPS). This work is concerned with evaluating the impact of equatorial scintillation on the performance of GPS receivers. First, the morphology and statistical model of equatorial scintillation is briefly presented. A numerical model that generates synthetic scintillation data to simulate the effects of equatorial scintillation is presented. An overview of the main theoretical principles on GPS receivers is presented. The analytical models that describe the effects of scintillation at receiver level are presented and compared with numerical simulations using a radio software receiver and synthetic data. The results achieved by simulation agreed quite well with those predicted by the analytical models. The only exception is for links with extreme levels of scintillation and when weak signals are received.

Analysis occurrence of equatorial and low latitude ionospheric scintillations over Indonesia

“…Equatorial scintillation happens when small-scale irregularities in the F region of the ionosphere affect the radio-frequency signals. Influenced by the pressure gradients and gravity, the equatorial plasma present in the F2 layers is forced downward along the magnetic field lines [4]. This process creates a belt of enhanced electron density from 15 o to 20 o on both sides of the geomagnetic equator as illustrated in Fig 2(a) [4,8,11] .…”

“…Influenced by the pressure gradients and gravity, the equatorial plasma present in the F2 layers is forced downward along the magnetic field lines [4]. This process creates a belt of enhanced electron density from 15 o to 20 o on both sides of the geomagnetic equator as illustrated in Fig 2(a) [4,8,11] . This particular region where the electron density in enhanced is referred to as the Equatorial Anomaly.…”

“…In this present paper we analyzed the occurrence of ionospheric scintillation over Pontianak and Bandung to find out the spatial distribution of strong scintillation between equatorial and low latitude over Indonesia. (b) Equatorial fountain that gives rise to the equatorial anomaly [4].…”

“…Ionospheric scintillation is a rapid fluctuation of radiofrequency signal phase and/or amplitude, generated as signal passes through the ionosphere [2,3,4,11]. LAPAN uses GPS Silicon Valleys's GPS Ionospheric Scintillation and TEC Monitor (GISTM) system Model GSV4004B to monitor Ionospheric Scintillation over Pontianak (0.…”