Researchers develop new ionospheric scintillation model for GNSS

The ionosphere is shown in purple and not-to-scale in this image. (Image: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Duberstein)

Researchers have developed a new mathematical model to more accurately capture how ionospheric scintillation interferes with GNSS signals, reports EOS.

The new model uses a Markov chain. The model’s parameters were drawn from data on actual signal disruptions caused by ionospheric scintillation above Hong Kong on March 2, 2014. The researchers compared its predictions with real-world data and found it accurately emulated the timing and duration of the actual signal disruptions and did so more accurately than an earlier model that did not use a Markov chain approach.

Citation: “Markov Chain-Based Stochastic Modeling of Deep Signal Fading: Availability Assessment of Dual-Frequency GNSS-Based Aviation Under Ionospheric Scintillation” by Andrew K. Sun, Hyeyeon Chang, Sam Pullen, Hyosub Kil, Jiwon Seo, Y. Jade Morton and Jiyun Lee, Published in Space Weather, June 24, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1029/2020SW002655

The team’s findings also suggest that dual-frequency GNSS signals can significantly counteract the disruptive effects of strong scintillation, specifically for aircraft navigation.

In the future, this new modeling approach could be extended to improve understanding of other effects of ionospheric scintillation on GNSS signals, as well as their effects at other latitudes.