The ionospheric effects of the 2022 Hunga Tonga Volcano eruption and the
associated impacts on GPS Precise Point Positioning across the
Australian region
Abstract
The Hunga Tonga Volcano eruption launched a myriad of atmospheric waves
that have been observed to travel around the world several times. These
waves generated Traveling Ionospheric Disturbances (TIDs) in the
ionosphere, which are known to adversely impact radio applications such
as Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS). One such GNSS application
is Precise Point Positioning (PPP), which can achieve cm-level accuracy
using a single receiver, following a typical convergence time of 30 mins
to 1 hour. A network of ionosondes located throughout the Australian
region were used in combination with GNSS receivers to explore the
impacts of the Hunga-Tonga Volcano eruption on the ionosphere and what
subsequent impacts they had on PPP. It is shown that PPP accuracy was
not significantly impacted by the arrival of the TIDs and Spread-F,
provided that PPP convergence had already been achieved. However, when
the PPP algorithm was initiated from a cold start either shortly before
or after the TID arrivals, the convergence times were significantly
longer. GNSS stations in northeastern Australia experienced increases in
convergence time of more than 5 hours. Further analysis reveals
increased convergence times to be caused by a super equatorial plasma
bubble (EPB), the largest observed over Australia to date. The EPB
structure was found to be ~42 TECU deep and
~300 km across, traveling eastwards at 30 m/s. The Hunga
Tonga Volcano eruption serves as an excellent example of how ionospheric
variability can impact real-world applications and the challenges
associated with modeling the ionosphere to support GNSS.