Utilizing new GNSS capabilities for exploring Geospace

Abstract:

In 2000 the density of GPS receivers across the continental United States increased to the point that strictly data-driven regional maps of total electron content (TEC) could be constructed. These data-driven maps allowed the TEC to be monitored throughout the course of geomagnetic storms and to observe the progression of traveling ionospheric disturbances. This allowed studies of the development of storm enhanced density plumes in both hemispheres and of the dynamic changes in the equatorial TEC following stratospheric warming events. Currently, GPS TEC maps have become recognized as one of the premier tools to monitor coupling of atmospheric regions from both below and above the ionosphere. The number of available scientific dual-frequency receivers across the globe now exceeds 3000. However this number is anticipated to increase rapidly in part due to the numerous arrays being fielded for commercial applications such as precision farming and highway surveying. In addition, there will be a rapid increase in the number of GNSS signals available in the near future. Besides GPS, the European Union is building a system named GALILEO, which will consist of a 30-satellite constellation. The Russians have a system based on a 24-satellite constellation named GLONASS. The Chinese are developing a system called Beidou, which means “stars of the Big Dipper”. The Beidou system will consist of 35 satellites. By 2023, there will be more than 160 GNSS satellites and 400 signals. Multi-constellation, multi-band GNSS will be a major enabler for space weather studies. This talk will focus on the potential of using the multiple new GNSS signals and the new higher density receiver arrays for measurements of plasma drift, detailed studies of traveling ionospheric disturbances (TIDS) and expanded studies of atmospheric coupling. We will conclude by describing the tremendous potential of merging GNSS observations with observations collected by arrays of low-cost, low-power, and small form factor ionosondes. In the future, we predict that new ionosonde and GNSS receiver networks will enable unprecedented mesoscale real-time tomographic observations of the ionosphere.