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Transionospheric Radio Link - Quality Assessment of Ionospheric Correction


Near-real-time Rate of change Of TEC Index (ROTI) map for Northern Europe,
provided byReal-Time Ionosphere Monitoring (RTIM), NMA.

The service "Transionospheric Radio Link - Quality Assessment of Ionospheric Correction" aims to provide information on whether standard corrections to GNSS signal are applicable, including for the TEC core products a-posteriori and estimated parameters and near-real-time alarms to indicate the level of degradation of ionospheric correction models with respect to the actual state of the ionosphere. This latter assessment shall be established by considering the update rate for the different service users among the following:

  • Users of GNSS Single frequency services with average accuracy, no integrity (e.g. typical GNSS mass market user)
  • Users of GNSS Single frequency services with average accuracy, using integrity (e.g. EGNOS user)
  • Users or multi-frequency GNSS systems with very high accuracy (e.g. GNSS geodetic users, RTK).

This service is implemented through a combination of products, tools and alerts which can be found through the following tabs along with expert support provided by the teams constituting the SWE Network. Should you require further guidance in the use of this service, or have specific questions about any aspects of the service presented here, don’t hesitate to contact the Helpdesk.

The service is implemented through the following set of assets:

  • Ionosphere Monitoring and Prediction Center (IMPC) provided by the German Aerospace Center (DLR);
  • Real-Time Ionosphere Monitor (RTIM) provided by the Norwegian Mapping Authority (NMA);
  • European Ionosonde Service (EIS) provided by National Observatory of Athens (NOA);
  • Ionospheric Scintillation Monitoring (ISM) developed by Collecte Localisation Satellites (CLS) and IEEA;
  • Swarm Utilisation Analysis Ionosphere(SUA I) provided by the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ).
  • Swarm Utilisation Analysis Geomagnetic conditions (SUA G) provided by the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ).
  • ESA/ESOC Ionosphere Monitoring Facility, IONMON;
  • Nowcast and geomagnetic indices provided by the British Geological Survey (BGS).

This service page is curated by the ESC Ionospheric Weather.  For further information, please contact SSCC Helpdesk

Overview

Many applications use ionospheric correction models to estimate the ionospheric dependencies. The accuracy of this estimation depends on the actual state of the ionosphere. Degradation of the accuracy occurs during perturbed conditions, e.g. ionospheric storms or scintillations. Therefore, this service provides TEC core products a-posteriori and estimated parameters and near-real-time alarms to indicate the level of degradation of ionospheric correction models with respect to the actual state of the ionosphere.

Application

This service will allow users using ionospheric correction models in their applications, to judge the performance at any time. This includes the following types of users:

  • Users of GNSS Single frequency services with average accuracy, no integrity (e.g. typical GNSS mass market user)
  • Users of GNSS Single frequency services with average accuracy, using integrity (e.g. EGNOS user)
  • Users or multi-frequency GNSS systems with very high accuracy (e.g. GNSS geodetic users, RTK)
This service addresses mainly applications using standard corrections to GNSS signals.

Key Products

Near-real-time TEC maps

  • IMPC - Near-real-time TEC maps are provided with global coverage and for the European region. They are provided with 5 minutes latency and 15 minutes temporal resolution. Both products differ in the applied background model. A dedicated European TEC background model allows a higher quality TEC product for the European region. Each TEC map is provided along with a TEC error map.
  • RTIM - Near-real-time TEC maps are high resolution TEC maps for the high-latitude region around the Scandinavian countries (50°N – 80°N, 10°W – 40°E). Since the data coverage is high, no TEC background model is necessary. The temporal resolution is 5 minutes and the spatial resolution is 1° x 1° in latitude and longitude. The quality of the RTIM - TEC maps is presented by the Grid Ionospheric Vertical Error (GIVE) values. The GIVE is an upper bound on 99% of the TEC error.
  • ISM - Near-real-time TEC maps have a global coverage. Their temporal resolution is 1 hour.
  • EIS - Near-real-time TEC maps are derived from ionosonde measurements. Four different maps are produced for the European region each 15 min of the hour: the map of the integrated electron density from 90km to hmF2 (bottomside TEC), the map of the integrated electron density from hmF2 to the transition height (topside TEC), the map of the integrated electron density from the transition height to 20,000km (Plasmaspheric TEC) and the map of the integrated electron density from 90km to 20,000 km (TEC). The mapped area extends from -10 °W to 40 °E in longitude and from 34 °N to 60 °N in latitude, and the spatial resolution of the maps is 1°x1°. The product is based on the 3D electron density grids that are calculated using TaD model in DIAS system. The maps are made available with a latency of 30 min in both ASCII and PNG formats.
  • IONMON - The Ionosphere Monitoring Facility IONMON delivers animated maps of the global distribution of the Total Electron Content (TEC) & the TEC Root Mean Square errors (RMS). The animations cover 24 hours with an 1-hour time resolution. Both TEC and RMS levels are displayed in TEC units (1 TECU = 10^16 el/m^2) on the colour maps. The range of values, displayed on the colour bars underneath the maps, is fixed from 0 to 60 TECU for TEC and from 0 to 10 TECU for RMS. In case TEC and RMS values exceed the aforementioned fixed limits, the maximum value will be shown next to the colour bar. The maps are provided by the ESA/ESOC Navigation Support Office (OPS-GN).

TEC and local electron density from Swarm satellites

Valuable data for validation is provided by SUA in form of TEC measurements along the line of sight between Swarm satellites and GNSS satellites. Swarm satellites also deliver the local electron density along the flight paths' of the satellites.

Scintillation measurements

Degradation of ionospheric models and performance of GNSS applications often suffer degradation during ionospheric scintillations. Local scintillation measurements and maps of scintillation parameters are provided in near-real-time as follows:

  • S4 and σΦ maps for northern Europe provided by RTIM are based on GNSS measurements from a network of high rate (≥50 Hz) GNSS receivers.
  • S4 and σΦ measurements based on several GNSS high rate (50 Hz) receivers in Europe operated by DLR. The data includes the necessary receiver-satellite-link specific amplitude and phase information.
  • ISM provides global nowcast S4 and σΦ maps based on numerous GNSS receivers (1 Hz) and a few high rate GNSS receivers (50 Hz). Furthermore, it provides forecast of S4 and σΦ maps up to 6 hours ahead. The forecasts are most reliant near the equator and less reliant in polar regions.

EIS - URSI parameters

URSI parameters are derived from ionosonde observations. They help interpreting the ionospheric conditions. URSI parameters are currently provided by the EIS service.

Ionospheric Disturbances

For most users, the degree of perturbation of the ionosphere is of high interest. Currently, this service provides Rate Of change of TEC Index (ROTI) observations. ROTI is related to scintillations. Key products are

  • ROTI maps are provided by IMPC for Europe and by RTIM for FennoScandinavia.
  • Additionally, the SUA activity provides ROT along the flight paths' of the three Swarm satellites.

Solar and geomagnetic indices and measurements

Solar and geomagnetic indices and measurements provide indicators for the source of ionospheric perturbations and performance degradation of ionospheric models.

Contact

For further information, please contact SSCC Helpdesk

The following products are associated with this service:

Ionosphere, Nowcast

Vertical Total Electron Content Map
  • TEC map (Europe), current
     IMPC
  • TEC map (Global), current
     IMPC
  • VTEC maps (Northern Europe)
     RTIM
  • IONMON TEC maps
     IONMON
  • EIS Near real-time TEC maps for the European region
     EIS
  • TEC and Err(TEC) nowcast modelled maps
     ISM
  • TEC and Err(TEC) nowcast modelled values at a given location
     ISM
3D Electron Density Grids
  • TomoScand3D
     FMI
  • TomoScand2D
     FMI
URSI Ionospheric Parameters
  • EIS Nowcast European maps of foF2
     EIS
  • EIS hmF2 maps for Europe
     EIS
Scintillation Indices and Parameters
  • Local scintillation indices S4 & σ φ Kiruna
     IMPC
  • Local scintillation indices S4 & σ φ Neustrelitz
     IMPC
  • Local scintillation indices S4 & σ φ Svalbard
     IMPC
  • Local scintillation indices S4 & σ φ Tenerife
     IMPC
  • Local scintillation indices S4 & σ φ Toulouse
     IMPC
  • S4 maps (Northern Europe)
     RTIM
  • σφ maps (Northern Europe)
     RTIM
  • S4 and Err(S4) nowcast modelled maps
     ISM
  • SigmaPhi and Err(SigmaPhi) nowcast modelled maps
     ISM
  • S4 and Err(S4) nowcast modelled values at a given location
     ISM
  • SigmaPhi and Err(SigmaPhi) nowcast modelled values at a given location
     ISM

Ionosphere, Archives

Vertical Total Electron Content Map
  • Swarm Total Electron Content (TEC)
     SUA I
3D Electron Density Grids
  • Swarm electron density (Ne)
     SUA I
URSI Ionospheric Parameters
    Scintillation Indices and Parameters

      Geomagnetic Indices, Nowcast

      Geomagnetic Storm Condition
      • 3-hourly K index: Lerwick, Eskdalemuir, Hartland
         BGS
      • 3-hourly aa index
         BGS
      • 3-hourly Kp index
         BGS
      • 3-hourly ap index
         BGS
      • Daily Aa index
         BGS
      • Daily Ap index
         BGS
      • 3-hourly K(GBI) index
         BGS
      • Real-time one-minute Dst (ASC)
         BGS
      • StormRisk
      Local External Magnetic Field on Ground
      • dMag/dt
      • Magnetogrammes from North(West) Europe and Greenland
      • LDiñ
         UAH
      • LCiñ
         UAH
      Local Geomagnetic Induced Geoelectric Field
      • Horizontal electric field data (UK)
         BGS
      • Peak Geomagnetically Induced Current (GIC) for Scotland, England, Wales and the UK
         BGS
      • Average Geomagnetically Induced Current (GIC) for Scotland, England, Wales and the UK
         BGS
      • Peak Pipe-to-Soil Potential (PSP) for Scotland, England, Wales and the UK
         BGS
      • Average Pipe-to-Soil Potential (PSP) for Scotland, England, Wales and the UK
         BGS
      • 3-hourly Telluric index (Lerwick, Eskdalemuir, Hartland)
         BGS
      • GIC Index, Bgic for the UK
         BGS
      • Maps for power and pipeline operators
         FMI
      • Table of modelled GIC
         FMI
      • Pipe-to-soil voltage (PSV)
         FMI

      Geomagnetic Indices, Archives

      Geomagnetic Storm Condition
      • 3-hourly K index: Lerwick, Eskdalemuir, Hartland
         BGS
      • 3-hourly aa index
         BGS
      • 3-hourly Kp index
         BGS
      • 3-hourly ap index
         BGS
      • Daily Aa index
         BGS
      • Daily Ap index
         BGS
      • Swarm Polar Electrojet (PEJ)
         SUA G
      • Swarm Field-Aligned Current (FAC)
         SUA G
      Local External Magnetic Field on Ground
      • Horizontal magnetic rate of change (UK)
         BGS
      • dMag/dt
      • Magnetogrammes from North(West) Europe and Greenland
      Local Geomagnetic Induced Geoelectric Field
      • Horizontal electric field data (UK)
         BGS
      • Maps for power and pipeline operators
         FMI
      • Table of modelled GIC
         FMI
      • Pipe-to-soil voltage (PSV)
         FMI

      Solar Indices, Nowcast

      Solar Flares
      • UGraz/KSO Latest Solar flare detections
      • UGraz/KSO Solar flare detection archive
      • SIDC Latest daily space weather bulletin
      • SIDC Daily space weather bulletin archive
      Smoothed Sunspot Number (SSN, R12)
        10.7cm Solar Radio Flux (F10.7)
          Solar X-ray Flux
          • Proba2/LYRA Rescaled latest data
          • Proba2/LYRA Rescaled data archive
          Solar EUV Integrated Flux
            Solar UV Flux

              Solar Indices, Archives

              Solar Flares
              • FLARECAST Solar flare forecast
              • UGraz/KSO Solar flare detection archive
              • UGraz/KSO Halpha light curves archive
              • A-EFFort Solar flare forecast
              • SIDC Solar flare forecast archive
              Smoothed Sunspot Number (SSN, R12)
              • SIDC/SILSO International sunspot number
              • SIDC/SILSO International sunspot number
              • SIDC/SILSO Sunspot number forecast archive
              • SSN archive on SEDAT
                 SEDAT
              10.7cm Solar Radio Flux (F10.7)
              • SIDC 10.7cm Solar radio flux (F10.7) forecast archive
              • Automated Multi Dataset Analysis (AMDA)
                 AMDA
              • F10.7 archive
                 SGIArv
              Solar X-ray Flux
              • UGraz/KSO Halpha light curves archive
              • Proba2/LYRA Rescaled latest data
              • Proba2/LYRA Rescaled data archive
              • GOES/SEM X-Ray Sensor datasets on SEDAT
                 SEDAT
              Solar EUV Integrated Flux
              • Proba2/LYRA Data archive
              • Proba2/LYRA Rescaled data archive
              Solar UV Flux

              Tools associated with this service:

              The AMDA system provides an archive of planetary, solar wind, Earth magnetosphere and ionosphere mission and ground based products. In addition it supports a range of standard models such as magnetic footprints, magnetic fields, solar wind propagation to planets and probes as well as access to external databases of observations and simulations. A key functionality of the system is its embedded plotting, data mining and cataloguing functionalities which are extremely useful in relation to posteriori analysis.

              Archive of solar and geomagnetic activity indices for thermospheric drag calculation.

              Following alerts are associated with this service.

              Ionospheric Disturbance Detection

              EIS Alerts for ionospheric disturbances in the European sector

               EIS

              This section provides links to web pages or resources that are not part of the ESA Space Weather Network or esa.int domain.  These sites are not under ESA control and therefore ESA is not responsible for any of the information or links that you may find there. 

              Other European Ionosphere Services

              Reference documents

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