Characteristics of equatorial and midlatitude bubbles and their impact on navigation systems.
Abstract
Electron density irregularities in the Earth’s ionosphere are significant space weather features because of their impact on modern technology. Ground Based Augmentation System (GBAS) is a civil-aviation safety-critical system that provides differential global positioning system (GPS) corrections and integrity verification near an airport to support all phases of approach, landing, departure, and surface operations of aerial vehicles. The use of GBAS is significantly limited because of the occurrence of severe electron density irregularities occur. The most severe electron density irregularities occur in the equatorial region by the phenomena known as plasma bubbles. Recent studies show the occurrence of severe plasma bubbles in mid latitudes as well during geomagnetic storms. The objective of our project is to mitigate the impact of plasma bubbles on GBAS using the characteristics of plasma bubbles. The characteristics of plasma bubbles will be derived using satellite observations of the ionosphere. Equatorial bubbles often occur sequentially from east in a broad longitude region. This property and machine/deep learning techniques will be used for the prediction of the occurrence of equatorial bubbles and the enhancement of the availability of GBAS. Mid latitude bubbles are relatively new features whose characteristics and generation mechanism have not yet been clearly understood. As well as addressing these questions we will evaluate the impact of mid latitude bubbles on the operation of GBAS. The success of our project will demonstrate for the first time the application of the occurrence manor of equatorial bubbles for their prediction and provide closure to the dispute regarding the origin of mid latitude bubbles. These results will provide a tool to enhance the availability of GBAS to the users of GBAS.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Jan 21, 2022
- Source ID
- FA23862114034XX0
Entities
People
- Hyosub Kil
Organizations
- Air Force Office of Scientific Research
- Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
- United States Air Force