Solar Eclipse Observations with a Dense Network of Single-frequency Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) Receivers

该奖项将使用最近在市场上推出的现成手机技术来构建单频GPS传感器阵列，用于研究2017年8月21日日食的电离层影响。 这一事件将提供机会，研究电离层对特征明确的太阳辐射量变化的反应。总遮蔽的路径穿过美国大陆中部，并计划在田纳西州部署联网仪器进行拟议的测量。拟议的项目将部署一个由双频和单频全球导航卫星系统接收器组成的区域网络，目的是监测总电子含量、电离层漂移和日食引起的信号闪烁效应。拟议的项目为使用消费者智能手机扩大目前的全球导航卫星系统技术执委会接收器网络奠定了基础，从而大大提高了空间气象监测能力。8月的日食为概念验证数据捕获提供了一个绝佳的机会。该项目将部分资助一名全职博士。最终目标是获得博士学位。项目，该项目将雇用六名本科生进行拟议的观测活动。根据单频GNSS测量值进行TEC估计需要解决载波相位模糊度问题并减轻TEC估计过程中使用代码延迟引入的较高不确定性。这种接收器的集群，与周围的双频接收器协同分析，将使增值增强标准TEC地图。此外，来自单频接收器的相位信息允许跟踪不规则漂移（通过相关分析），并且还允许跟踪信号闪烁事件。这种数据融合方法将在拟议的调查实验评估。

This award would use off-the-shelf cell phone technology just recently made available on the market to construct a single frequency GPS array of sensors that would be applied to study the ionospheric effects of the solar eclipse happening on 21 August 2017. This event would provide the opportunity to study the ionospheric response to a well-characterized modification of the solar influx. The path of total obscuration crosses the central continental United States and deployment of the networked instrumentation to Tennessee is planned for the proposed measurements. The proposed project would deploy a regional network of dual-frequency and single-frequency Global Navigation Satelite System (GNSS) receivers with the goal of monitoring total electron content (TEC), ionospheric drifts, and signal scintillation effects induced by the eclipse. The proposed project lays the foundation for the use of consumer smartphones to augment the current GNSS-TEC receiver network to produce a greatly enhanced space weather monitoring capability. The August eclipse provides an outstanding opportunity for a proof-of-concept data capture. The project will partially sponsor one full-time Ph.D. student with the eventual objective of making this his Ph.D. project, and this project will employ six undergraduates for the proposed observing campaign.TEC estimation from single-frequency GNSS measurements requires resolving carrier-phase ambiguity problem and mitigating the higher uncertainty introduced by using code delay in the TEC estimation process. Clusters of such receivers, analyzed collaboratively with surrounding dual frequency receivers, will enable a value-added enhancement standard TEC maps. Moreover, the phase information from the single frequency receivers allows the tracking of irregularity drifts (through a correlation analysis), and also the tracking of incidents of signal scintillation. This data fusion approach will be evaluated experimentally in the proposed investigation.