Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Investigating the inconsistency of ionospheric ROTI indices derived from GPS modernized L2C and legacy L2 P(Y) signals at low-latitude regions

  • Original Article
  • Published:
GPS Solutions Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The rate of change of total electron content (TEC) index (ROTI), an important parameter to characterize ionospheric irregularities and associated scintillation activities, can be calculated from both new Global Positioning System (GPS) civilian L2C and legacy GPS L2 P(Y) signals. We investigate the inconsistency of the ROTI indices derived from L2C, denoted as ROTIL2C, and from L2 P(Y), denoted as ROTIL2P, through the analysis of 3 months of GPS data collected by four types of GNSS receivers, i.e., Javad, Leica, Septentrio, and Trimble, installed at five low-latitude stations. The results show that inconsistencies existing between the ROTIL2C and ROTIL2P may be related to the receiver configurations, such as tracking techniques. For both Leica and Trimble receivers, ROTIL2C and ROTIL2P are generally comparable; for the Septentrio receiver, ROTIL2C is larger than ROTIL2P by 0.5–1.1 TECu/min; for the Javad receiver, ROTIL2C is smaller than ROTIL2P by 0.3–0.5 TECu/min. A significant inconsistency of ROTIL2C (also ROTIL2P) is also found from the cross-comparison between receivers deployed at zero/short baselines. In addition, we find that large discrepancy of ROTI is observed for satellites with low maximum elevation angle. The correlation coefficients between ROTIL2C and S 4 are on average in the range of 0.4–0.8, comparable to those of ROTIL2P with S 4. But, a low correlation coefficient is found for satellites with low maximum elevation angle. The ratios between ROTIL2C and S 4 are also calculated. They are in the range of 3–9, larger than those between ROTIL2P and S 4. This study suggests that cautions be taken when the ROTI index, either ROTIL2P or ROTIL2C, derived from different types of GNSS receivers is used to characterize ionospheric irregularities and associated scintillations.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10
Fig. 11
Fig. 12
Fig. 13
Fig. 14
Fig. 15

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Al-Fanek O, Skone S, Lachapelle G, Fenton P (2007) Evaluation of L2C observations and limitations. In: Proceedings of ION GNSS 2007, Institute of Navigation Fort Worth, Texas, 25–28 September, pp 2510–2518

  • Basu S, Groves K, Quinn J, Doherty P (1999) A comparison of TEC fluctuations and scintillations at Ascension Island. J Atmos Solar Terr Phys 61(16):1219–1226

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beach TL, Kintner PM (1999) Simultaneous global positioning system observations of equatorial scintillations and total electron content fluctuations. J Geophys Res: Sp Phys 104(A10):22553–22565

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cherniak I, Zakharenkova I, Krankowski A (2014) Approaches for modeling ionosphere irregularities based on the TEC rate index. Earth, Planets Sp 66(1):1–5. doi:10.1186/s40623-014-0165-z

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Engel U (2008) A theoretical performance analysis of the modernized GPS signals. In: Position, location and navigation symposium, 2008 IEEE/ION, Monterey, 5–8 May 2008, pp 1067–1078

  • Fontana RD, Cheung W, Stansell T (2001) The modernized L2 civil signal. GPS World 12(9):28–35

    Google Scholar 

  • Hauschild A, Montenbruck O (2014) A study on the dependency of GNSS pseudorange biases on correlator spacing. GPS Solut 20(2):159–171. doi:10.1007/s10291-014-0426-0

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Humphreys T, Young L, Pany T (2008) Considerations for future IGS receivers. In: IGS analysis center workshop, Miami Beach, 2–6 June 2008, pp 1–19

  • Krankowski A, Shagimuratov I, Baran L, Ephishov I, Tepenitzyna N (2006) The occurrence of polar cap patches in TEC fluctuations detected using GPS measurements in southern hemisphere. Adv Sp Res 38(11):2601–2609

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leandro RF, Thirumurthi T, Sukeova L, Langley RB, Santos MC (2008) Analysis of GPS L2C signal quality and its impact on PPP performance. In: Proceedings of ION NTM 2008, Institute of Navigation, San Diego, January 28–30, pp 1020–1031

  • Leick A, Rapoport L, Tatarnikov D (2015) GPS satellite surveying. Wiley, London. doi:10.1002/9781119018612

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Leveson I (2006) Benefits of the new GPS civil signal. Inside GNSS 1(5):42–47

    Google Scholar 

  • Li H, Lu M (2015) Double-chipwise correlation technique for efficient L2C signal acquisition. Aerosp Electr Syst, IEEE Trans 51(2):1575–1582

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liu Z (2011) A new automated cycle slip detection and repair method for a single dual-frequency GPS receiver. J Geodesy 85(3):171–183

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ma G, Maruyama T (2006) A super bubble detected by dense GPS network at east Asian longitudes. Geophys Res Lett. doi:10.1029/2006GL027512

    Google Scholar 

  • Marques H, Monico J, Marques H (2015) Performance of the L2C civil GPS signal under various ionospheric scintillation effects. GPS Solut 20(2):139–149. doi:10.1007/s10291-015-0472-2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McDonald KD (2002) The modernization of GPS: plans, new capabilities and the future relationship to Galileo. J Glob Pos Syst 1(3):1–17

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Montenbruck O, Hauschild A, Steigenberger P (2014a) Differential code bias estimation using multi-GNSS observations and global ionosphere maps. Navigation 61(3):191–201

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Montenbruck O, Steigenberger P, Khachikyan R, Weber G, Langley R, Mervart L, Hugentobler U (2014b) IGS-MGEX: preparing the ground for multi-constellation GNSS science. Inside GNSS 9(1):42–49

    Google Scholar 

  • Nishioka M, Saito A, Tsugawa T (2008) Occurrence characteristics of plasma bubble derived from global ground-based GPS receiver networks. J Geophys Res. doi:10.1029/2007JA012605

    Google Scholar 

  • O’Keefe K, Wang D, Petovello MG, Gernot C (2009) Benefit of partial L2C availability for correcting ionospheric error for standalone GPS. In: Proceedings of ION GNSS 2009, Institute of Navigation, Savannah, September 22–25, pp 2530–2550

  • Oladipo O, Schüler T (2013) Equatorial ionospheric irregularities using GPS TEC derived index. J Atmos Solar Terr Phys 92:78–82

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pi X, Mannucci A, Lindqwister U, Ho C (1997) Monitoring of global ionospheric irregularities using the worldwide GPS network. Geophys Res Lett 24(18):2283–2286

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pi X, Mannucci AJ, Valant-Spaight B, Bar-Sever Y, Romans LJ, Skone S, Sparks L, Hall GM (2013) Observations of global and regional ionospheric irregularities and scintillation using GNSS tracking networks. In: Proceedings of ION 2013 Pacific PNT Meeting, Honolulu, Hawaii, April 23–25, pp 752–761

  • Rizos C, Montenbruck O, Weber R, Weber G (2013) The IGS MGEX experiment as a milestone for a comprehensive multi-GNSS service. In: Proceedings of ION 2013 Pacific PNT meeting, Honolulu, Hawaii, April 23–25, pp 289–295

  • Shanmugam S, Jones J, MacAulay A, Van Dierendonck A (2012) Evolution to modernized GNSS ionoshperic scintillation and TEC monitoring. In: Position location and navigation symposium, 2012 IEEE/ION, 23–26 April 2012, pp 265–273

  • Sokolovskiy S, Schreiner W, Zeng Z, Hunt D, Kuo Y-H, Meehan T, Stecheson T, Mannucci A, Ao C (2014) Use of the L2C signal for inversions of GPS radio occultation data in the neutral atmosphere. GPS Solut 18(3):405–416

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sükeová L, Santos MC, Langley RB, Leandro RF, Nnani O, Nievinski F (2007) GPS L2C signal quality analysis. In: Proceedings of the ION 63rd annual meeting, Cambridge, 23–25 April 2007, pp 23–25

  • Tiwari R, Strangeways H, Tiwari S, Ahmed A (2013) Investigation of ionospheric irregularities and scintillation using TEC at high latitude. Adv Sp Res 52(6):1111–1124

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tran M (2004) Performance evaluations of the new GPS L5 and L2 civil (L2C) signals. Navigation 51(3):199–212

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang D, O’Keefe K (2010) Benefit of partial L2C availability to estimate ionospheric delay for dual-frequency GPS ambiguity resolution. In: Position location and navigation symposium, 2010 IEEE/ION, 2010, pp 44–52

  • Wang N, Yuan Y, Li Z, Montenbruck O, Tan B (2016) Determination of differential code biases with multi-GNSS observations. J Geodesy 90(3):209–228. doi:10.1007/s00190-015-0867-4

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yang Z, Liu Z (2015) Correlation between ROTI and ionospheric scintillation indices using Hong Kong low-latitude GPS data. GPS Solut. doi:10.1007/s10291-015-0492-y

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The supports from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 41274039) are gratefully acknowledged. This work is supported by the Hong Kong Research Grants Council (RGC) projects (PolyU 5325/12E, F-PP0F and PolyU 5203/13E, B-Q37X) and PolyU project 4-BCBT and G-YBDA. We thank the International GNSS Service’s Crustal Dynamics Data Information System (CDDIS) for providing the MGEX data. The anonymous reviewers are thanked for providing constructive comments, which help improve the quality of this paper.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, 11 Yuk Choi Road, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong, People’s Republic of China

    Zhe Yang & Zhizhao Liu

Authors
  1. Zhe Yang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Zhizhao Liu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Zhizhao Liu.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Yang, Z., Liu, Z. Investigating the inconsistency of ionospheric ROTI indices derived from GPS modernized L2C and legacy L2 P(Y) signals at low-latitude regions. GPS Solut 21, 783–796 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10291-016-0568-3

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10291-016-0568-3

Keywords

Search

Navigation