Characterization of Ionospheric Irregularities under Space Weather Conditions Using GNSS Networks

A continuous observation system to measure ionospheric irregularities globally and regionally can be composed of the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) and ground-based tracking receiver networks. Examples of such networks include the global GNSS network managed by the International GNSS Service (IGS) and the Continuously Operating Reference Station (CORS) managed by the NOAA National Geodetic Survey (NGS). An effort has been made at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory to produce global ionospheric irregularity measurements using GNSS data collected from these networks. This presentation will describe the measurement techniques and show observed evolution of ionospheric irregularities. An attempt is made to characterize the weather behavior of equatorial ionospheric irregularities under various geophysical conditions. We place this study in the context of global-scale ionospheric and other space weather observations, which enables us to better understand the underlying electrodynamic and ionospheric/thermospheric processes at low latitudes under space weather conditions.