Is this project an undergraduate, graduate, or faculty project?
Undergraduate
Project Type
group
Authors' Class Standing
Julian Herrera - Senior Marissa Priore - Senior Danayit Mekonnen - Sophomore
Lead Presenter's Name
Julian Herrera
Faculty Mentor Name
Dr.Kshitija Deshpande
Abstract
The Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) has wide applications from daily life to numerous industries. Understanding how space weather affects the radio signals is imperative to maintain its accuracy. Space weather events, such as geomagnetic storms, create a disturbance in the ionosphere by increasing the total electron content. However, these disturbances are found in high latitude regions where most studies are conducted; minimal research exists concerning the mid-latitude region. There is a gap in research focusing on how tropospheric sources such as thunderstorms might generate ionospheric structures that affect these signals as well. The purpose of this project is to fill that gap by analyzing the possible relationship between thunderstorms and scintillation. If a relationship is found, this could spark a whole new method of potentially predicting severe weather such as tornadoes and hurricanes. To study these relationships, 2 GPS receivers, both situated in Daytona Beach, Florida, were used to record GNSS data. A code was developed that graphed and analyzed the receiver data for scintillation signatures. Archived weather data was used to identify the exact date and time of thunderstorms. After favorable scintillation candidates were found, lightning location data was combed to compare it with the scintillation signatures. More accurate lightning data is required to determine a direct correlation to GPS scintillation, however, the current work lays a foundation to study relationship between tropospheric events and radio signal scintillation.
Did this research project receive funding support (Spark, SURF, Research Abroad, Student Internal Grants, Collaborative, Climbing, or Ignite Grants) from the Office of Undergraduate Research?
No
Tropospheric Scintillation Signatures: Observations of the Possible Effect Thunderstorms have on GPS Signals
The Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) has wide applications from daily life to numerous industries. Understanding how space weather affects the radio signals is imperative to maintain its accuracy. Space weather events, such as geomagnetic storms, create a disturbance in the ionosphere by increasing the total electron content. However, these disturbances are found in high latitude regions where most studies are conducted; minimal research exists concerning the mid-latitude region. There is a gap in research focusing on how tropospheric sources such as thunderstorms might generate ionospheric structures that affect these signals as well. The purpose of this project is to fill that gap by analyzing the possible relationship between thunderstorms and scintillation. If a relationship is found, this could spark a whole new method of potentially predicting severe weather such as tornadoes and hurricanes. To study these relationships, 2 GPS receivers, both situated in Daytona Beach, Florida, were used to record GNSS data. A code was developed that graphed and analyzed the receiver data for scintillation signatures. Archived weather data was used to identify the exact date and time of thunderstorms. After favorable scintillation candidates were found, lightning location data was combed to compare it with the scintillation signatures. More accurate lightning data is required to determine a direct correlation to GPS scintillation, however, the current work lays a foundation to study relationship between tropospheric events and radio signal scintillation.