Study of Low-latitude Ionospheric Scintillation using NavIC

TL;DR

This study uses NavIC satellite signals to analyze ionospheric irregularities near the Equatorial Ionization Anomaly, demonstrating NavIC's capability for long-term scintillation monitoring and potential forecasting.

Contribution

First long-term analysis of equatorial ionospheric scintillation using NavIC signals, introducing a new method for irregularity detection and forecasting.

Findings

NavIC can detect ionospheric irregularities over extended periods.

Power spectral density analysis characterizes irregularities effectively.

Initial results confirm NavIC's potential for ionospheric monitoring.

Abstract

Equatorial ionospheric irregularities have been studied in the past and have produced interesting insights into ionospheric physics and processes. Here, we present the initial results of a long-term study of the ionosphere near the Equatorial Ionization Anomaly (EIA) using Navigation with the Indian Constellation (NavIC). We have characterized the ionospheric irregularities in terms of the power spectral density at different dynamical frequencies. The formalism is similar to as suggested by earlier works using the phase screen modeling of the ionosphere. The observations of the C/N 0 (dB-Hz) variation have been taken by utilizing the L5 (1176.45 MHz) signal of NavIC over Indore located near the northern crest of EIA. We show some initial results as a proof of concept study from a single day (December 4, 2017) of scintillation observations. This is a first-of-its-kind study in this region with NavIC. From the power spectral density analysis, we have demonstrated that NavIC is capable of detecting such irregularities over long periods over this region and has implications for forecasting such events in the future.