ScintPi measurements of low-latitude ionospheric irregularity drifts using the spaced-receiver technique and SBAS signals

Abstract

Previous efforts have used pairs of closely spaced specialized receivers to measure Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signals and to estimate ionospheric irregularity drifts. The relatively high cost associated with commercial GNSS-based ionospheric receivers has somewhat limited their deployment and the estimation of ionospheric drifts. The development of an alternative, low-cost, GNSS-based scintillation monitor (ScintPi) motivated us to investigate the possibility of using it to overcome this limitation. ScintPi monitors can observe signals from geostationary satellites, which can greatly simplify the estimation of the drifts. We present the results of an experiment to evaluate the use of ScintPi 3.0 to estimate ionospheric irregularity drifts. The experiment consisted of two ScintPi 3.0 deployed in Campina Grande, Brazil (7.213° S, 35.907° W; dip latitude ∼ 14° S). The monitors were spaced at a distance of 140 m in the magnetic east–west direction and targeted the estimation of the zonal drifts associated with scintillation-causing equatorial spread F (ESF) irregularities. Routine observations throughout an entire ESF season (September 2022–April 2023) were made as part of the experiment. We focused on the results of irregularity drifts derived from geostationary satellite signals. The results show that the local time variation in the estimated irregularity zonal drifts is in good agreement with previous measurements and with the expected behavior of the background zonal plasma drifts. Our results also reveal a seasonal trend in the irregularity zonal drifts. The trend follows the seasonal behavior of the zonal component of the thermospheric neutral winds as predicted by the Horizontal Wind Model (HMW14). This is explained by the fact that low-latitude ionospheric F-region plasma drifts are controlled, in great part, by Pedersen-conductivity-weighted flux-tube-integrated zonal neutral winds. The results confirm that ScintPi has the potential to contribute to new, cost-effective measurements of ionospheric irregularity drifts, in addition to scintillation and total electron content. Furthermore, the results indicate that these new ScintPi measurements can provide insight into ionosphere–thermosphere coupling.