Ionosphere vertical TEC calculated from GNSS receiver data in Lisbon:
comparison with observations
Abstract
We present the results of the analysis of the reliability of ionosphere
TEC values produced by the GNSS receiver installed at the Lisbon airport
(Portugal), since 2015. The installed equipment is a NovAtel EURO4 with
a JAVAD Choke-Ring antenna. The installed firmware (SCINDA) is specific
for scintillation detection. We did a comparison of the SCINDA
line-of-sight TEC values with the observed vertical TEC data collected
(using ionosonde) by the Ebro Observatory in Spain, and with the
vertical TEC values produced using the software developed in the Royal
Observatory of Belgium. The differences between the ionosonde-based and
GNSS-based TEC and sources of these differences are discussed. In this
study special attention was paid to the epochs accompanied by
significant Space Weather events strongly affected the ionosphere and
the quality of the GNSS positioning.