Effects of Equatorial Plasma Bubbles Over Real-Time Kinematic Positioning in Low-Latitude Region

Abstract

Equatorial plasma bubbles (EPBs) refer to ionospheric irregularities in low-latitude regions, commonly observed after sunset. They originate at the magnetic equator and then potentially spread to mid-latitude region. As cm-level positioning techniques are increasingly important to various segments of society, the performance degradation of these systems due to EPB at low latitudes needs to be investigated. In this work, we analyze the EPB effects on the performances of real-time kinematic (RTK) positioning at the short, medium, and long baselines at low-latitude stations in Thailand. The low-latitudes local ionospheric disturbances such EPBs are shown to degrade the positioning accuracy of RTK in different seasons in 2022. It is found that the positioning errors are higher during the disturbance periods and more severe at the long baselines than the shorter ones, especially during the equinoctial months.