Ionospheric scintillation and solar activity relation in East Malaysia during solar maximum 2014

Ionospheric scintillation and solar activity relation in East Malaysia during solar maximum 2014

Ionospheric scintillation is a common phenomenon in the equatorial, auroral, and polar areas, posing a threat to the Global Navigation Satellite System's (GNSS) operation. This ionospheric effect is thought to impact satellite signal propagation, hence, lowering positioning accuracy. Therefore,...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Advances in space research Vol. 73; no. 7; pp. 3504 - 3514
Main Authors: Al Hashimi, Nasser Said Saif, Mohd Ali, Aiffah, Bahari, Siti Aminah, Abdullah, Mardina
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier B.V 01-04-2024
Subjects:
Amplitude scintillation
GNSS
GPS
Ionospheric scintillation
Low latitude
Ionospheric scintillation
Low latitude
GPS
GNSS
Amplitude scintillation
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Summary:Ionospheric scintillation is a common phenomenon in the equatorial, auroral, and polar areas, posing a threat to the Global Navigation Satellite System's (GNSS) operation. This ionospheric effect is thought to impact satellite signal propagation, hence, lowering positioning accuracy. Therefore, detecting ionospheric scintillation is critical in enhancing GNSS performance, particularly at low latitudes with severe amplitude scintillation. This paper investigates the effects of ionospheric scintillation on GPS signals at UNIMAS station, the East part of Malaysia. This study aims to identify the occurrence of ionospheric scintillation by calculating the index of scintillation strength during solar maximum 2014. The amplitude scintillation, which is measured in the S4 index is obtained and classified accordingly from the data recorded at the UNIMAS station. The results have shown that strong scintillation (S4 ≥ 0.5) occurred in the spring (April) and autumn (September and October) seasons, reaching 8 incidents. This paper also presents the diurnal, seasonal, and solar activity dependence of ionospheric scintillation. It is evident that the occurrence of amplitude scintillation is influenced by variations in solar activity, including solar flares and sunspots, as well as diurnal and seasonal changes. These findings provide valuable insights into the behaviour of the ionosphere and its impact on space-based communication and navigation systems.
ISSN:0273-1177
1879-1948
DOI:10.1016/j.asr.2023.10.003