This paper presents the storm time comparative analysis of the performances of latest versions of global ionospheric models: International Reference Ionosphere (IRI) 2016, NeQuick 2 (NeQ) and the IRI extended to Plasmasphere (IRI-P) 2017 with respect to Navigation with Indian Constellation (NavIC) and Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) derived ionospheric Total Electron Content (TEC). The analysis is carried out under varying geomagnetic storm conditions during September 2017-November 2018, falling in the declining phase of solar cycle 24. TEC data from Indore, located near the northern crest of the Equatorial Ionization Anomaly (EIA) along with data obtained from the International GNSS Service (IGS) stations at Lucknow, located beyond the anomaly crest; Hyderabad, located between anomaly crest and magnetic equator and Bangalore, located near the magnetic equator have been analysed. The models generally overestimated during the storm periods with the exception of IRI-P, which matched (with an offset of about 3-5 TECU) with the enhancement observed on September 7, 2017 (during the strong storm of September 2017), from stations around the anomaly crest. No significant match was observed by the other two models. This match of IRI-P is attributed to the plasmaspheric contribution as well as the capability of assimilating measured TEC values into this model. In the present study, to the best of our knowledge, first comparisons of the empirical model derived TEC with NavIC and GNSS measurements from an anomaly crest location, combined with the IGS observations from the magnetic equator to locations beyond the anomaly crest, are conducted during geomagnetically disturbed conditions. Since NavIC satellites are at higher altitudes(~ 36000 km), the inclusion of NavIC data to the existing model could give better ionospheric predictions over the Indian subcontinent.
Ionospheric irregularity studies are important aspects for understanding ionospheric physics and related processes, especially near the low-latitude regions. However, simultaneous measurements (utilizing the L-band signals of NavIC and GPS) of irregularity scale sizes over the Indian longitude sector, has not been addressed extensively. To address this problem, the paper presents simultaneous characterization of low-latitude ionospheric irregularities over a location near the northern EIA crest (Indore: 22.52$^\circ$N, 75.92$^\circ$E geographic and magnetic dip of 32.23$^\circ$N) and a locatio…
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) v…
The paper presents an assessment of the performances of the global empirical models: International Reference Ionosphere (IRI)-2016 and the NeQuick2 model derived ionospheric Total Electron Content (TEC) with respect to the Navigation with Indian Constellation (NavIC)/ Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System(IRNSS) estimated TEC under geomagnetic storm conditions. The present study is carried out over Indore (Geographic: 22.52$^{\circ}$N 75.92$^{\circ}$E and Magnetic Dip: 32.23$^{\circ}$N, located close to the northern crest of the Equatorial Ionization Anomaly (EIA) region of the Indian se…
This paper emphasizes on NavIC's performance in ionospheric studies over the Indian subcontinent region. The study is performed using data of one year (2017-18) at IIT Indore, a location near the northern crest of Equatorial Ionization Anomaly (EIA). It has been observed that even without the individual error corrections, the results are within $\pm20\%$ of NavIC VTEC estimates observed over the 1\ensuremath{^{\circ}} x 1\ensuremath{^{\circ}} grid of IPP surrounding the GPS VTEC estimates for most of the time. Additionally, ionospheric response during two distinct geomagnetic storms (September…
A systematic study of ionospheric scintillation at the low-latitudes, especially around the Equatorial Ionization Anomaly (EIA) and the magnetic equator, is essential in understanding the dynamics of ionospheric variation and related physical processes. Our study involves NavIC $S_{4_C}$ observations over Indore and Hyderabad. Additionally, GPS $S_{4_C}$ observations over Indore were analyzed, under disturbed as well as quiet time ionospheric conditions from September 2017 through 2019, falling in the declining phase of the solar cycle 24. The $S_{4_C}$ observations were further analyzed using…
Solar eclipses provide an excellent opportunity to study the effects of a sudden localized change in photoionization flux in the Earth's ionosphere and its consequent repercussion in the Geomagnetic field. We have focused on a subset of the data available from the North American 2017 eclipse in order to study VTEC measurements from GNSS data and geomagnetic field estimations from INTERMAGNET observatories near the eclipse path. Our simultaneous analysis of both datasets allowed us to quantify the ionosphere and magnetic field reaction to the eclipse event with which allowed us to compare how d…
Predicting low-latitude ionospheric Total Electron Content (TEC) over the Indian sector under variable space weather conditions using solar wind parameters
Indian Institute of Geomagnetism(印度地磁研究所);School of Environmental Science, Jawaharlal Nehru University(贾瓦哈拉尔·尼赫鲁大学环境科学学院)
Multi-instrument constraints on a hemispherically asymmetric positive ionospheric storm in the 60-180 deg E sector during the 12-13 November 2025 geomagnetic storm
Institute of Earthquake Forecasting, China Earthquake Administration(中国地震局地震预测研究所);National Space Science Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences(中国科学院国家空间科学中心);Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University(香港理工大学土地测量及地理资讯学系);Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia(意大利国家地球物理与火山学研究所);Space Research Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences(俄罗斯科学院太空研究所)
Influence of ICME-driven Magnetic Cloud-like and Sheath Region induced Geomagnetic Storms in causing anomalous responses of the Low-latitude Ionosphere: A Case Study
The total ionospheric content (TEC) over the Iberian Peninsula was studied using data from two locations obtained both by GNSS receivers and an ionosonde. The principal component analysis applied to the TEC data allowed us to extract two main modes. Each mode is characterized by daily TEC variation of a certain type (PC) and its amplitude for each of the studied day (given by the empirical orthogonal functions, EOF). The variations of these modes as well as the original TEC data were studied in relations to four strongest geomagnetic storms of 2015 and three geomagnetic disturbances of lower a…