Spatial Analysis of the Correlation between Scintillation Parameters and MP&ROTI

Abstract

Ionospheric scintillation, often described using the parameters S4 and σφ is one of the most severe error sources that influences the operation of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS). However, these two parameters can only be generated by scintillation monitoring receivers that have limited numbers around the world. This paper aims to investigate the correlation between scintillation parameters and MP&ROTI (multipath & rate of total electron content index) so that scintillation events can be represented by parameters that can be obtained from standard receivers in order to research on scintillation from a different perspective. Furthermore the utilization of these parameters as a means of identifying scintillation events could facilitate the use of archived GNSS data from non-scintillation receivers for improved ionosphere research. GPS data of one day with strong scintillation is obtained from the station, SAOOP located in Sao Paolo, Brazil. Time series plots and 2-D maps of all the parameters are utilized to respectively observe the general and spatial relationship between the scintillation parameters and other parameters. Furthermore, structural similarity (SSIM) generated between 2-D maps of different parameters are applied to confirm the spatial similarity. The results show that the high correlations between scintillation parameters and MP&ROTI are confirmed temporally and spatially respectively based time series plots and 2-D maps.