Application of the Fengyun 3 C GNSS occultation sounder for assessing the global ionospheric response to a magnetic storm event
<p>The rapid advancement of global navigation satellite system (GNSS) occultation technology in recent years has made it one of the most advanced space-based remote sensing technologies of the 21st century. GNSS radio occultation has many advantages, including all-weather operation, global cov...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Copernicus Publications
2019-03-01
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| Series: | Atmospheric Measurement Techniques |
| Online Access: | https://www.atmos-meas-tech.net/12/1483/2019/amt-12-1483-2019.pdf |
| Summary: | <p>The rapid advancement of global
navigation satellite system (GNSS) occultation technology in recent years has
made it one of the most advanced space-based remote sensing technologies of
the 21st century. GNSS radio occultation has many advantages, including
all-weather operation, global coverage, high vertical resolution, high
precision, long-term stability, and self-calibration. Data products from GNSS
occultation sounding can greatly enhance ionospheric observations and
contribute to space weather monitoring, forecasting, modeling, and research.
In this study, GNSS occultation sounder (GNOS) results from a radio
occultation sounding payload aboard the Fengyun 3 C (FY3-C) satellite were
compared with ground-based ionosonde observations. Correlation coefficients
for peak electron density (NmF2) derived from GNOS Global Position System
(GPS) and Beidou navigation system (BDS) products with ionosonde data were
higher than 0.9, and standard deviations were less than 20 %. Global
ionospheric effects of the strong magnetic storm event in March 2015 were
analyzed using GNOS results supported by ionosonde observations. The magnetic
storm caused a significant disturbance in NmF2 level. Suppressed daytime and
nighttime NmF2 levels indicated mainly negative storm conditions. In two
longitude section zones of geomagnetic inclination between 40 and
80<span class="inline-formula"><sup>∘</sup></span>, the results of average NmF2 observed by GNOS and ground-based
ionosondes showed the same basic trends during the geomagnetic storm and
confirmed the negative effect of this storm event on the ionosphere. The
analysis demonstrates the reliability of the GNSS radio occultation sounding
instrument GNOS aboard the FY3-C satellite and confirms the utility of
ionosphere products from GNOS for statistical and event-specific ionospheric
physical analyses. Future FY3 series satellites and increasing numbers of
Beidou navigation satellites will provide increasing GNOS occultation data on
the ionosphere, which will contribute to ionosphere research and forecasting
applications.</p> |
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| ISSN: | 1867-1381 1867-8548 |