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GNSS data filtering optimization for ionospheric observation
Author(s)
Language
English
Obiettivo Specifico
2A. Fisica dell'alta atmosfera
Status
Published
JCR Journal
JCR Journal
Title of the book
Issue/vol(year)
/56 (2015)
Pages (printed)
2552–2562
Issued date
2015
Abstract
In the last years, the use of GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite Systems) data has been gradually increasing, for both scientific studies
and technological applications. High-rate GNSS data, able to generate and output 50-Hz phase and amplitude samples, are commonly
used to study electron density irregularities within the ionosphere. Ionospheric irregularities may cause scintillations, which are rapid and
random fluctuations of the phase and the amplitude of the received GNSS signals.
For scintillation analysis, usually, GNSS signals observed at an elevation angle lower than an arbitrary threshold (usually 15 , 20 or
30 ) are filtered out, to remove the possible error sources due to the local environment where the receiver is deployed. Indeed, the signal
scattered by the environment surrounding the receiver could mimic ionospheric scintillation, because buildings, trees, etc. might create
diffusion, diffraction and reflection.
Although widely adopted, the elevation angle threshold has some downsides, as it may under or overestimate the actual impact of
multipath due to local environment. Certainly, an incorrect selection of the field of view spanned by the GNSS antenna may lead to
the misidentification of scintillation events at low elevation angles.
With the aim to tackle the non-ionospheric effects induced by multipath at ground, in this paper we introduce a filtering technique,
termed SOLIDIFY (Standalone OutLiers IDentIfication Filtering analYsis technique), aiming at excluding the multipath sources of
non-ionospheric origin to improve the quality of the information obtained by the GNSS signal in a given site. SOLIDIFY is a statistical
filtering technique based on the signal quality parameters measured by scintillation receivers. The technique is applied and optimized on
the data acquired by a scintillation receiver located at the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, in Rome. The results of the
exercise show that, in the considered case of a noisy site under quiet ionospheric conditions, the SOLIDIFY optimization maximizes
the quality, instead of the quantity, of the data.
and technological applications. High-rate GNSS data, able to generate and output 50-Hz phase and amplitude samples, are commonly
used to study electron density irregularities within the ionosphere. Ionospheric irregularities may cause scintillations, which are rapid and
random fluctuations of the phase and the amplitude of the received GNSS signals.
For scintillation analysis, usually, GNSS signals observed at an elevation angle lower than an arbitrary threshold (usually 15 , 20 or
30 ) are filtered out, to remove the possible error sources due to the local environment where the receiver is deployed. Indeed, the signal
scattered by the environment surrounding the receiver could mimic ionospheric scintillation, because buildings, trees, etc. might create
diffusion, diffraction and reflection.
Although widely adopted, the elevation angle threshold has some downsides, as it may under or overestimate the actual impact of
multipath due to local environment. Certainly, an incorrect selection of the field of view spanned by the GNSS antenna may lead to
the misidentification of scintillation events at low elevation angles.
With the aim to tackle the non-ionospheric effects induced by multipath at ground, in this paper we introduce a filtering technique,
termed SOLIDIFY (Standalone OutLiers IDentIfication Filtering analYsis technique), aiming at excluding the multipath sources of
non-ionospheric origin to improve the quality of the information obtained by the GNSS signal in a given site. SOLIDIFY is a statistical
filtering technique based on the signal quality parameters measured by scintillation receivers. The technique is applied and optimized on
the data acquired by a scintillation receiver located at the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, in Rome. The results of the
exercise show that, in the considered case of a noisy site under quiet ionospheric conditions, the SOLIDIFY optimization maximizes
the quality, instead of the quantity, of the data.
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article
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