Characteristics of ionospheric scintillation climatology over Indian low-latitude region during the 24th solar maximum period

Abstract

Abstract The amplitude and phase of L-band satellite signals are fluctuated randomly due to small scale electron density irregularity structures in the ionosphere which result in fleeting variations, known as ‘ionospheric scintillations’. The Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) is a profound remote sensing tool to monitor, model and forecast the ionospheric weather conditions. In this paper, the GNSS amplitude scintillation data has been analyzed during the year 2013\xa0at Bengaluru (12.9°N, 77.59°E) and Lucknow (26.8467°N, 80.9462°E) stations to reinforce climatology of ionospheric scintillation over Indian low-latitude region. The probability of scintillation occurrence and their variations over equatorial and Equatorial Ionization Anomaly (EIA) regions in India are analyzed during various geomagnetic quiet and disturbed days, months and seasons. The annual occurrence of amplitude scintillations are mapped with the function of local time. It is observed from the experimental results that the probability of scintillations occurrences is higher over EIA region than over the equatorial region. The probability of scintillations is higher during March equinox and December solstice, and lowest during June solstice. Distribution of scintillations is intense during post–sunset period. The maximum percentage of scintillation occurrences at the two stations are recorded in November. Moreover, the highest percentage of scintillation occurrences took place on storm day (March 17, 2013) at the two stations. This work would be helpful for understanding the features of GNSS amplitude scintillations over Southern and Northern Indian regions. Moreover, these kinds of investigations are helpful for developing new algorithms to nowcast and forecast ionospheric scintillations over Indian Sub-continent.