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EFFECT OF IONOSPHERIC IRREGULARITIES ON EARTH

SATELLITE RADIO COMMUNICATION IN NIGERIA

BY

IBEKWE NWANNEKA
NDA/FE/M/1706/14

A THESIS PRESENTATION
TO THE

DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONICS


ENGINEERING, NIGERIAN DEFENCE ACADEMY
KADUNA, NIGERIA

MAY, 2017
INTRODUCTION
JUSTIFICATION
RESEARCH AIM AND OBJECTIVES
RESEARCH OUTCOME
LITERATURE REVIEW
DATA SOURCE AND METHODOLOGY
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
Satellite technology is evolving, and the applications are
increasing all the time. With the variety of frequency bands that
can be used to achieve it applications, designations have been
developed in the electromagnetic spectrum so that they can be
referred to easily.
Satellites are designed, built and used for a wide variety of
applications from satellite TV broadcasting, and navigation in
the case of GPS to photography, weather monitoring, mapping,
surveillance, agriculture and many more applications. These
satellites are designed to transmit and receive signals from a
particular altitude and frequency band. For the transmission and
reception of signals, satellites normally use frequencies above
500 MHz, and often much higher.
At these frequencies the transmissions to and from the
satellites might be thought to be immune to the effects of the
atmosphere. However this is not the case and effects are
introduced primarily by two areas of the atmosphere. One is
the troposphere and the other is the ionosphere. Accordingly,
satellite propagation or the radio propagation characteristics
of the path between the ground and the satellite is of great
importance Poole [2015]. In figure 1, the diagram of Earth
Satellite Radio Communication is shown.
Earth

Figure 1: Diagram of Earth Satellite Radio


Communication
Satellites Earth Observation, Communication satellites,
Navigational satellites and all others are domiciled in the
space environment where charged particles exist and space
weather dominates. Signals travel through the space
environment via the ionosphere to the earth.
The ionosphere can scintillate, absorb, and refract signals
travelling to earth. Ionospheric scintillation may cause
problems such as signal power fading; phase cycle slips,
receiver loss of lock, etc., and degrades the quality of satellite
navigation systems, Pi [2017] because of the fluctuation in
amplitude and phase of radio signals. Amplitude scintillation,
or short-term fading, can be so severe that signal levels drop
below a satellite receivers lock threshold, requiring the
receiver to attempt reacquisition of the satellite signal. Phase
scintillation, characterized by
rapid carrier-phase changes, can produce cycle slips
and sometimes challenge a receivers ability to hold
lock on a signal. For these reasons, ionospheric
scintillation is one of the most significant threats for
Global Positioning Systems (GPS) operating in the near
equatorial and polar latitudes.
Scintillation activity is most severe and frequent in and
around the equatorial regions, particularly in the hours
just after sunset. Nigeria happens to be one of the
African countries that fall within the equatorial region
with low latitude ionosphere where scintillation on GNSS
signals is high.
The aim of this thesis is to carry out a research work on the
effect of ionospheric irregularities on earth satellite radio
communication in Nigeria. The primary objectives of this
research are:
To investigate the transient (diurnal, seasonal and annual)
variations of ionospheric irregularities and
To understand the effect of ionospheric irregularities on earth
satellite radio communication in Nigeria
The research is expected to:
Provide us with a quantitative measure of the effect of
ionospheric irregularities over Nigeria on earth satellite radio
communication
Provide data for users and manufacturers of facilities of earth
radio communication especially receivers
Provide data for the optimum operation and tasking of
satellites
Provide data which can be used to predict when the effect is
likely to be more and avoid contact with the satellite if
possible
The review of fundamental concepts and theoretical
background was done.
The following are the review of relevant related work:
Ionospheric effects on GPS positioning by Smita et.al [2005]
research work was carried out to study the effect of
ionospheric scintillations on GPS signal at low latitude station,
Chiang Rai, Thailand.
Investigation of ionospheric irregularities at UKM station,
Malaysia during low solar activity by Seif et. al [2012]
conducted by using a dual-frequency GISTM(GPS Ionospheric
Scintillation and TEC monitor) at Universiti Kebangsaan
Malaysia station, Malaysia (2.551N, 101.461E;
geomagnetic:7.391S, 173.631E) between September 2009
and December 2010
A Comparative Analysis of GPS Ionospheric Scintillations
Observed in Northern and Southern Equatorial Anomaly
Regions in 2013-2014 by Liu et. al [2015] at four GPS
scintillation monitoring stations near the equatorial anomaly
crests (15 geomagnetic latitude)
Inter-hourly variability of Total Electron Content during the
quiet condition over Nigeria, within the Equatorial Ionization
Anomaly region by Ayorinde et.al [2016]
Ionospheric time delay (Vt) variability using Global
Positioning System (GPS) data over Akure (7.15N, 5.12E),
Nigeria has been studied by Olawale et.al [2015].
Research work on the scintillation effect on satellite
communications within Standard atmosphere was carried by
Hussein [2009].
Effects of Atmospheric Scintillation in Ka-Band Satellite
Communications by Borgsmiller [1998].
Data Source:
The data was obtained from the ground-based GPS
receiver stations of the Nigerian GNSS Reference
Network (NIGNET) operated by the Office of the
Surveyor General of the Federation (OSGoF) of Nigeria
from the year 2012 to 2016. NIGNET has a chain of
continuously operating GPS Reference Stations (CORS)
distributed across Nigeria. The two selected stations for
the research work are Abuja and Calabar to ensure good
representation and results. The data are recorded in
universal time system at 30 second sampling rate and
stored in a Receiver Independent Exchange (RINEX)
format. This format stores the pseudo-ranges and
carrier phases (L1 and L2) for each satellite.
Data Source:
Table 1: Coordinates of Abuja and Calabar

STATION LATITUDE LONGITUDE


(DEGREE) (DEGREE)

Abuja 9.0765 N 7.3986 E


Calabar 4.9757 N 8.3417 E
Methodology:
RINEX data from two of the fourteen of the GPS receiver
stations belonging to the NIGNET network will be used to
derive the total electron content (TEC) along the signal path
between the receiver on the ground and the GPS satellite in
space, commonly referred to as slant TEC (STEC), Rate of
Change of TEC ROT, and Rate of Change of TEC index
ROTI. In order to process GPS data, a software package
called GPS TEC developed at Boston College was used. The
GPS TEC algorithm computes STEC at each ionospheric
piercing point (IPP) and converts it to vertical TEC (VTEC) at
each IPP, removes the outliers/jumps and then calculates the
mean VTEC as a representation of the TEC above the receiver.
Figure 2 shows the flow chart of TEC and ROTI processing
GPS DATA

PROCESSING RINEX FILE

TEC AND ROTI CALCULATION

RESULTS

DISCUSSION OF RESULTS

Figure 2: Flow chart of TEC and ROTI processing


Methodology:

Diurnal Variation
The daily hourly variation of the TEC and ROTI was calculated for
each year and the results compared and then presented as the
mass plots of the diurnal variation of monthly mean of TEC
Seasonal Variation
Three seasons was considered. The Equinox, summer and winter
seasons to determine the TEC variation and ROTI fluctuations in
each year.
Annual Variation
Since five year data was used, an annual variation of TEC and
ROTI was carried out for each and compared for the five years.
The data extracted and processed were carried out in days
and months summing up to yearly results for the two
stations. The two stations, Calabar and Abuja have their file
names as clbr and osgf respectively as given by Nignet.
During the course of processing of the data, it was observed
that some years have less than 365 days data (clbr 2012,
clbr 2015, clbr 2016, osgf 2014, osgf 2016). This will be seen
in the plots. Osgf 2015 had no data at all.
For the TEC results, line plots were done with monthly
average for the data of each station considered. The TEC
range was plotted against a 24-hour period in universal time
(UT). Local time is +1. This is also to allow for annual
representation and ease of interpretation of results.
For the ROTI results, contour plots were used with the days of
the year plotted against time in hours (local time).

Figure 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4 and 3.5 shows the TEC results for
Calabar and Abuja for the year 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and
2016 respectively. The ROTI results for Calabar and Abuja for
the year 2012 2016 as shown in figure 3.6 to figure 4.1
respectively.
Figure 3.1a and 3.1b: TEC result for Calabar and Abuja
2012
Figure 3.2a and 3.2b: TEC result for calabar and Abuja 2013
Figure 3.3a and 3.3b: TEC result for calabar and Abuja 2014
Figure 3.4a: TEC result for Calabar 2015
Figure 3.5a and 3.5b: TEC result for Calabar and Abuja 2016
Figure 4.6: ROTI result for Calabar and Abuja 2012
Figure 3.7: ROTI result for Calabar and Abuja 2013
Figure 3.8: ROTI result for Calabar and Abuja 2014
Figure 3.9: ROTI result for Calabar 2015
Figure 5.0: ROTI result for Calabar and Abuja 2016
Figure 4.1: ROTI result for the two stations for year 2012 - 2016
Discussion of result

The presented results above are subplots and mass plot for TEC and
ROTI which will be analyzed based on the transient variations stated in
chapter three.

Diurnal Variation
The daily hourly variation of the TEC and ROTI was calculated for each
year and the results compared and then presented as the line mass plots
of the diurnal variation of monthly mean of TEC and contour group plots
of ROTI.

Looking at the TEC line mass plots above, a trend was displayed. It can
be seen that for all the months, the highest time delays in
communication from satellite to earth was between the hours of 2pm to
5p.m daily as the total electron content is more. The total delay suffered
by a radio wave propagating through the ionosphere depends both on
the frequency of the radio wave and the TEC between
the transmitter and the receiver. At night the TEC decayed rather
slowly due to recombination of electrons and ions. Maximum
TEC usually occurs in the early afternoon and minimum TEC
usually occurs just before sunrise.
The diurnal variation of monthly average in TEC in the two
stations ranges between 0-75 TECU (TEC Units) with highest
value recorded in Calabar 2014 and lowest variation in Abuja
2016.
The rate of change of TEC index, ROTI in 2012 for the two
stations showed that in Calabar, though with incomplete days
displayed scanty scintillation in the order of ~0.9 TECu/min
which was quite different from the Abuja display that showed
significant irregularities for days 1 to ~180 between the hours of
6p.m to ~2:30a.m.
In 2013, scanty irregularities were seen in calabar on like Abuja
that showed scintillations for better days of the year (~50 to 365
days) between the hours of 7p.m to 5a.m with ~1 TECu/min as
displayed by the ROTI bar. In 2014, there was
significant increase in scintillation in Calabar station from
~day 25 to 300 between the hours of 7p.m to ~5pm. The
available data for Abuja 2014 showed that there is very
high ROTI. There is also increase in scintillation in Calabar
2015. Abuja had no data for 2015. With the incomplete
data for both stations in 2016, the available days showed
significant irregularities in both stations between the
hours of 7:30p.m to 6a.m.

Seasonal Variation
Three seasons was considered. The Equinox, summer and
winter seasons to determine the TEC variation and ROTI
fluctuations in each year.
The seasonal variation of the TEC in 2012 maximizes
(~10-60 TECU) both during
Equinoctial months and solstice month except for the month
of December which minimizes (~10-35 TECU). The diurnal
monthly average of TEC calabar 2012 in September equinox
period is higher than that of March equinox while that of
Abuja 2012, September equinox period is the same as that of
march equinox. In 2013, the solstice month had higher TECU
value than that of the equinox. In calabar 2014, the march
equinox recorded the highest diurnal monthly average
variation. It happens to be the highest for the five years under
study. The five years did not show significant change in
variation during the equinox months even though Abuja is at
a higher latitude than calabar. ROTI was seen to be quite high
during the month of March and May for Abuja 2012
compared to Calabar with scanty irregularity.
In 2013, the three seasons were affected in Abuja station
while Calabar was relatively free of scintillation. The three
seasons were affected in 2014 in calabar. Though, Abuja had
incomplete data, the equinox and winter was affected. For
2015, Calabar the only station with data, showed the three
seasons had irregularities recorded. In 2016, the available
days showed irregularities occurred in summer in Abuja while
in equinox and partly winter in Calabar.

Annual Variation
Since five-year data was used, an annual variation of TEC and
ROTI was done for each and compared for the five years. The
annual variation of TEC was lowest for Abuja 2016. There was
no significant difference in other years.
The contour mass plots showed annual variation especially
from 2013 to 2014
Conclusion
In this study, the effect of ionospheric irregularities on earth
satellite radio communication in Nigeria has been investigated
using transient variations. The study was conducted in three
phases using five years data collected over Calabar and Abuja:
data collection, processing and transformation into plots and
discussion of the TEC and ROTI results. The data was five-minute
intervals sampled at 30 seconds. During processing the time
interval was converted to hourly for the purpose of analysis. The
TEC line mass plots displayed a trend. For all the months, the
highest time delays in communication from satellite to earth was
between the hours of 2pm to 5p.m daily as the total electron
content was more. At night the TEC decayed rather slowly due to
recombination of electrons and ions. Maximum TEC usually
occurs in the early afternoon and minimum TEC usually occurs
just before sunrise.
Recommendation
The research has also identified several possibilities of GPS
methodology including accuracy issues and further improvement on
TEC that can be incorporated in future research. The following
issues and directions have been noted:

In this work, only two signal used which is L1 and L2 to


investigate ionospheric TEC and ROTI. Further, it would be
necessary to include new improved signal, which is L5 for more
precision and accuracy.

data taken from other satellite navigation systems such as


GLONASS, Galileo, etc can also be utilized
More detailed work for different ionospheric condition needs to be
verified and compared for other region such as high latitude,
Antartic and Artic.

Utilize data taken from communication satellites and earth


observation satellites to carry out such study in future.
THANK YOU

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