The Scintillation and Tomography Receiver in Space (CITRIS) Instrument for Ionospheric Research
Abstract
The ionosphere is a source of error and data loss for many communications, navigation, and radar systems. As satellite radio signals propagate from space through the ionosphere to the ground, they can become distorted by a large number of effects including phase fluctuations, Faraday rotation, amplitude fluctuations, group delay, absorption, scattering, frequency shifts, and multipath. Ionospheric characterization is needed to identify these influences, to predict their occurrence, and if possible, to mitigate their effects. Radio beacon measurements of ionospheric total electron content (TEC) can be used by data assimilation models to improve ionospheric density specifications. Current assimilation models have been developed to incorporate many sources of ionospheric data including ground GPS TEC, bottom-side ionospheric profiles from ionosondes, and TEC from low-Earthorbit (LEO) beacon transmissions to ground receivers. Until now, there has not been any beacon receiver in low Earth orbit that can provide rapid TEC and radio scintillation measurements from ground beacons and from other beacons in LEO.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 2008
- Accession Number
- ADA517619
Entities
People
- C. L. Siefring
- D. E. Koch
- I. J. Galysh
- P. A. Bernhardt
Organizations
- United States Naval Research Laboratory