GPS Total Electron Content measurements at low latitudes in Brazil for low solar activity

Variations of ionospheric Total Electron Content (TEC) have been calculated using GPS data at station Presidente Prudente, Brazil (22.1° S; 51.4° W) in 1997, a period of low solar activity. Two hourly TEC averages are presented for the period. Diurnal, seasonal, solar activity variations and Equator...

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Detalhes bibliográficos
Autores: Mendes da Costa, Aracy, Vilas Boas, J. Williams, da Fonseca Junior, Edvaldo S.
Tipo de documento: artigo
Estado:Versão publicada
Data de publicação:2004
País:México
Recursos:UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL AUTÓNOMA DE MÉXICO
Repositório:Geofísica Internacional
Idioma:espanhol
inglês
OAI Identifier:oai:revistagi.geofisica.unam.mx:article/951
Acesso em linha:http://revistagi.geofisica.unam.mx/index.php/RGI/article/view/951
Access Level:Acceso aberto
Palavra-chave:GPS
Número Total de Electrones
Anomalía Ecuatorial
Total Electron Content
Equatorial Anomaly
Descrição
Resumo:Variations of ionospheric Total Electron Content (TEC) have been calculated using GPS data at station Presidente Prudente, Brazil (22.1° S; 51.4° W) in 1997, a period of low solar activity. Two hourly TEC averages are presented for the period. Diurnal, seasonal, solar activity variations and Equatorial Anomaly effects are discussed. TEC diurnal means compared with IRI 95 predictions for equinox and solstice months show that IRI-95 systematically overestimates the observed values. Pre-midnight TEC enhancements were observed all over the year, except in May and June. The TEC values reproduce the same general trend of TEC observations over Cachoeira Paulista, Brazil (22.5° S; 45° W). The “fountain” effect seems to be more effective at Presidente Prudente because of its lower magnetic dip latitude. A correlation between TEC experimental values and low solar flux (62 < F10.7 < 116 flux units) emphasizes the inadequacy of IRI to model low latitude TEC values at low solar activity periods. These are the first results obtained using TEC-GPS technique for total electron content measurement in southwestern Brazil.