Polar ionospheric scintillation measurements using widely distributed operational transmitters

A network of unmanned meteorological stations is examined with respect to the study of auroral and polar regions of the Arctic to determine the effect of solar activity of Arctic radio communication. The meteorological system is described which digitally transmits data via satellite regarding air pressure and temperature, wind velocity, and humidity. The Argos satellite is used for the environmental data collection, and the data are processed and analyzed at a ground station. The platform-transmitter terminals (PTTs) that collect the data have 400 MHz links that can be affected by ionospheric irregularities. When the data show an error rate of over 10 percent, the data are rejected; the BER floor is about 0.001 during quiet solar activity and about 0.004 at times of sunspot activity. The data are significant for the analysis of ionospheric scintillation in the subauroral, auroral, and polar regions.