GPS
Ionospheric scientists use GPS observables to measure properties of the
electron density such as the total electron content (TEC). The TEC is a
measure of the total number of electrons that would be contained in a
cylinder that extends up vertically above a given point on the earth all
the way through the ionosphere. By incorporating data from multiple
receivers (greater than 2000) distributed over the globe, scientists are
able to generate wide-ranging spatial maps of the TEC. The deployment of
these receivers is rapidly increasing and some areas already have very
dense networks (e.g. Japan, North America, and Europe). Two dimensional
TEC maps have revealed dramatic insights into storm time
magnetosphere-ionosphere (M-I) coupling at sub-auroral latitudes [Foster
et al. [2002], Coster et al., [2003]). MIT Haystack has automated the
process of downloading and processing GPS data to produce globally
gridded TEC data. The algorithms used in the MIT Automated Processing of
GPS (MAPGPS) software package have been described by [Rideout and
Coster, 2006]. Processed TEC data is available to the entire scientific
community via MIT Haystack's Madrigal database.
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