Evaluation of ionospheric models for Central and South Americas

Author(s):Show less -

Klipp, Telmo dos Santos ^{[1, 2]} ; Petry, Adriano ^{[1, 2]} ; de Souza, Jonas Rodrigues ^{[1, 3]} ; Falcao, Gabriel Sandim ^{[1, 2]} ; de Campos Velho, Haroldo Fraga ^{[1, 4]} ; de Paula, Eurico Rodrigues ^{[1, 3]} ; Antreich, Felix ^{[5, 6]} ; Hoque, Mainul ^{[7, 8]} ; Kriegel, Martin ^{[7, 8]} ; Berdermann, Jens ^{[7, 8]} ; Jakowski, Norbert ^{[7, 8]} ; Fernandez-Gomez, Isabel ^{[7, 8]} ; Borries, Claudia ^{[7, 8]} ; Sato, Hiroatsu ^{[7, 8]} ; Wilken, Volker ^{[7, 8]}

Affiliation

^[1] Natl Inst Space Res INPE, Sao Jose Dos Campos - Brazil

^[2] Southern Reg Space Res Ctr, Av Roraima S-N, Campus UFSM, Predio INPE CRS, BR-97105970 Santa Maria, RS - Brazil

^[3] Aeron Div, Av Astronautas 1758, BR-12227010 Sao Jose Dos Campos, SP - Brazil

^[4] Comp & Appl Math Lab, Av Astronautas 1758, BR-12227010 Sao Jose Dos Campos, SP - Brazil

^[5] Aeronaut Inst Technol ITA, Sao Jose Dos Campos - Brazil

^[6] Dept Telecommun, Div Engn Eletron, Praca Marechal Eduardo Gomes, 50 Vila Acacias, BR-12228900 Sao Jose Dos Campos, SP - Brazil

^[7] German Aerosp Ctr DLR, Cologne - Germany

^[8] Inst Commun & Nav, Ionospher Effects & Correct, Kalkhorsweg 53, D-17235 Neustrelitz - Germany

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: Advances in Space Research; v. 64, n. 10, p. 2125-2136, NOV 15 2019.
• Web of Science Citations: 0

Abstract

This work shows a 20-month statistical evaluation of different Total Electron Content (TEC) estimators for the Central and South America regions. The TEC provided by the International GNSS Service (IGS) in the area covered around the monitoring GNSS stations are used as reference values, and they are compared to TEC estimates from the physics-based (Sheffield University Plasmasphere Ionosphere Model-PIM) and the empirical (Neustrelitz TEC Model-Global-NTCM-GL) models. The mean TEC values show strong dependence on both solar activity and seasonal variation. A clear response was noticed for a period close to 27 days due to the mean solar rotation, as seen in the solar flux measurements. Consistently, the mean TEC values present an annual variation with maxima during December solstices for southern stations with geographic latitudes greater than 25 degrees S. Semi-annual dependence has been observed in TEC for the sector between +/- 25 degrees of geographical latitude but with modulations caused by fluctuation in the solar radiation. We observed a high correlation between solar radio flux F10.7 and NTCM-GL outputs. The fast increases in F10.7 index have caused significant differences between IGS data and NTCM-GL results mainly for equatorial and low latitudes. For the initial months of the evaluated period (January-April, 2016), the errors of the physics-based model were considerably larger, mainly near the equatorial ionization anomaly. The discrepancies observed in SUPIM results are mainly due to inputs of solar EUV flux. The EUVAC model has underestimated EUV flux between January and April, 2016, when the solar activity was moderated and Solar2000 model has overestimated such flux during low solar cycle period between May and August, 2017. In relation to IGS data, the two assessed models presented smaller differences during the June solstice season of 2016. (C) 2019 COSPAR. Published by Elsevier Ltd. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 17/50115-0 - GNSS technology for supporting air navigation
• Grantee: Joao Francisco Galera Monico
• Support Opportunities: Research Grants - Research in Public Policies