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A system for measuring the scintillation index based on the results of monitoring of small-scale fluctuations in the total electron content of the ionosphere

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Abstract

It is possible to determine the ionospheric scintillation index with a modified NovAtel GPStation-6 dual-frequency GPS/GLONASS receiver by measuring small-scale fluctuations in the total electron content of the ionosphere and calculating their standard deviation. Based on the analysis of the shortcomings of the GPStation-6 receiver, the algorithm for monitoring of small-scale fluctuations of the total electron content based on digital filtering is substantiated. Experimental results of measurement of small-scale fluctuations of the ionospheric total electron content and results of estimation of their root-mean-square deviation and ionospheric scintillation index are presented.

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Data availability

The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

The work was carried out with the support of the Russian Science Foundation within the scientific project No. 22-21-00768 (https://rscf.ru/project/22-21-00768) "Methodology for the construction of structural and physical models of trans-ionospheric radio channels and their application to the analysis of satellite radio systems during ionospheric scintillation".

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Contributions

VP and MP wrote the main manuscript text. DM, MS, and DS developed software for processing the results of TEC measurements and prepared Figs. 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. All authors reviewed the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Vladimir P. Pashintsev.

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Pashintsev, V.P., Peskov, M.V., Senokosov, M.A. et al. A system for measuring the scintillation index based on the results of monitoring of small-scale fluctuations in the total electron content of the ionosphere. GPS Solut 28, 13 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10291-023-01550-1

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