GPS/TEC estimation with IONOLAB method

Total Electron Content (TEC) is a key variable to measure the ionospheric characteristics and disturbances. The Global Positioning System (GPS) can, be used for TEC estimation making use of the recorded signals at the GPS receiver. Reg-Est method that is developed by F.Arikan, C.B. Erol and O. Ankan can be used to estimate high resolution, robust TEC values combining GPS measurements of 30 s resolution obtained from the satellites which are above the 101 elevation limit. Using this method, it is possible to estimate TEC values for a whole day or a desired time period both for quiet and disturbed days of the ionosphere. Reg-Est provides robust TEC estimates for high-latitude, mid-latitude and equatorial stations. In this study, some important parameters of Reg-Est such as ionospheric thin shell height, weighting function and receiver-satellite biases are investigated. By incorporating the results of the investigation, Reg-Est algorithm is developed into IONOLAB method. Thin shell model height is an important parameter for Single Layer Ionosphere Model (SLIM). In this study, it is shown that IONOLAB provides reliable and robust TEC estimates independent of the choice of the maximum ionization height. Signals from the low elevation satellites are prone to multipath effects. In order to reduce the distortion due to multipath signals, the optimum weighting function is implemented in IONOLAB, minimizing the non-ionospheric noise effects. GPS receivers record both pseudorange and phase data of signals. IONOLAB can input absolute TEC computed from the pseudorange measurements or phase-corrected low-noise TEC. The TEC estimates for both of these inputs are in good accordance with each other. Thus, taking either pseoudorange or phase-corrected measurement data as input, high resolution, robust TEC estimates can be obtained from IONOLAB. Another important parameter for TEC estimation is satellite-receiver instrumental biases. The biases are the frequency dependent delays due to satellite and receiver hardware. In order to compute TEC, satellite and receiver biases should be removed from GPS measurements correctly. However, the proper procedure of how to include them in the TEC computation is generally vaguely defined. IONOLAB suggests a technique for inclusion of the hardware biases obtained from the web for TEC estimates that are consistent with the results from the IGS analysis centers.