Ionospheric precursors to scintillation activity

Main Article Content

Paul S.J. Spencer

Abstract

Ionospheric scintillation is the rapid fluctuation of both phase and amplitude of trans-ionospheric radio waves due to small scale electron density irregularities in the ionosphere. Prediction of the occurrence of scintillation at L band frequencies is needed to mitigate the disruption of space-based communication and navigation systems. The purpose of this paper is to present a method of using tomographic inversions of the ionospheric electron density obtained from ground-based GPS data to infer the location and strength of the post-sunset plasma drift vortex. This vortex is related to the pre-reversal enhancement in the eastwards electric field which has been correlated to the subsequent occurrence of scintillation.

Article Details

How to Cite
Spencer, P. S. (2014) “Ionospheric precursors to scintillation activity”, Annals of Geophysics, 57(1), p. A0185. doi: 10.4401/ag-6389.
Section
Physics of the Atmosphere