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Leveraging geodetic GPS receivers for ionospheric scintillation science
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  • Sebastijan Mrak,
  • Joshua L. Semeter,
  • Yukitoshi (Toshi) Nishimura,
  • Fabiano Rodrigues,
  • Anthea Coster,
  • Keith M. Groves
Sebastijan Mrak
Boston University, Boston University

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Joshua L. Semeter
Boston University, Boston University
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Yukitoshi (Toshi) Nishimura
Boston University, Boston University
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Fabiano Rodrigues
UT Dallas, UT Dallas
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Anthea Coster
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Haystack Observatory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Haystack Observatory
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Keith M. Groves
Air Force Research Laboratory, Air Force Research Laboratory
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Abstract

We demonstrate scintillation analysis from a network of geodetic Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers which provide data at 1-second resolution. We introduce proxy phase ($\sigma_{TEC}$) and amplitude ($SNR_4$) scintillation indices and validate them against the rate of change of TEC index (ROTI), and $S_4$. Additionally, we validate scintillation observations against a CASES scintillation receiver. We develop receiver dependent scintillation event thresholding using hardware-dependent noise variance. We analyze six-days adjacent to the 7-8 September 2017 geomagnetic storm, using 169 receivers covering magnetic latitudes between 15$^\circ$ and 65$^\circ$ in the American longitude sector. We leverage the available spatial sampling coverage to construct 2-D maps of scintillation and present episodic evolution of scintillation intensifications during the storm. We show that low-latitude and high-latitude scintillation morphology match well-established scintillation climatology patterns. At mid-latitudes, spatiotemporal evolution of scintillation partially agrees with known scintillation patterns. Additionally, the results reveal previously undocumented mid-latitude scintillation producing structures. The results provide an unprecedented view into the spatiotemporal development of scintillation-producing plasma irregularities and provide a resource to further exploit scintillation evolution at large spatial scales.
Nov 2020Published in Radio Science volume 55 issue 11. 10.1029/2020RS007131