In a study published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, researchers from the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the University of New Brunswick turned to studying the ionosphere's irregularities in an effort to improve satellite communications and provide better services using Global Positioning System (GPS).
The ionosphere is the part of the atmosphere located around 217 miles from the ground. A shell made up of charged ions and electrons collectively called plasma, it defines the border between space and the planet Earth. When energetic particles from the magnetosphere, a magnetic protective bubble around the planet, hit the ionosphere, a multicolored light show in the sky called aurora is produced. Pretty as they are, auroras create turbulence that disturbs the ionosphere. This disturbance in turn leads to irregularities that interfere with GPS communications.
According to researchers, how big the irregularities are gives them a clue about what causes disturbances in the first place. Finding about their cause will aid in predicting where and when irregularities will occur, allowing for workarounds that will lessen disturbances to radio signals as much as possible.
To observe irregularities within the ionosphere, the researchers utilized information from the Canadian Space Agency Satellite Cascade Smallsat and Ionospheric Polar Explorer. CASSIOPE's scope extends over all high-altitude regions so it was a great tool to explore the ionosphere.
Researchers found that the Arctic polar cap features smaller irregularities spanning between 0.62 and 5 miles in size while the auroral region is home to disturbances ip to 25 miles in diameter.
Esayas Shume, a researcher from the JPL and lead author for the study, explained that the difference in the sizes of disturbances has to do with where the areas are connected. The polar cap, for instance, is connected to electric fields and solar wind particles in interplanetary space while the auroral region is linked to the magnetosphre's energetic particles.
"By understanding the magnitude of the interference, spacecraft navigators can subtract the distortion from the ionosphere to get more accurate spacecraft locations," said Anthony Mannucci, atmospheric and ionospheric remote sensing group supervisor at the JPL and one of the authors of the study.
Irregularities in the ionosphere can have an impact on economies by interfering with aircraft communication, prompting a change in flight paths. This disruption may lead to longer travel times, which may translate to losses.
The study received funding support from the Science Mission Directorate of NASA. Other authors include Olga Verkhoglyadova, Mark Butala, Richard Langley and Attila Komjathy.
