Estimation Of Ionospheric Scintillation And Reduction By Using Kalman Filter

Abstract

Ionospheric scintillation is caused by variations in electron density that impact radio frequency (RF) signal transmission. Numerous variables, including the time of year, the location, magnetic and solar activity, and the season, can affect these anomalies. The most common locations for scintillation are equatorial and high latitude regions, despite the differences in their characteristics. Scintillation may result in both large stage modifications and amplitude fades in the signal in equatorial locations; at high northern latitudes, the effects are more noticeable with smaller amplitude variations. GNSS receivers can mimic signals by introducing input scintillation. Real-time modeling and prediction of ionospheric scintillation is achieved by applying the Kalman Filter using relevant data from ground-based measurements and satellite-based observations. The accuracy of the estimation process can be continuously improved due to the adaptive nature of the Kalman Filter, which improves it under dynamic ionospheric conditions. A large carrier loop bandwidth and a short prediction integration time must be chosen in order to manage the rapid dynamics brought on by phase scintillation. On the other hand, a long prediction integration time and a small carrier loop bandwidth should be used to reduce noise from amplitude scintillation and get precise carrier phase measurements.