doi: 10.5067/GNSS/gnss_igsionovtec_001

• Data Center Citation
• Data Citation
• Summary
• Description
• Data Access
• Documentation

Data Center Citation

Noll, Carey E., The Crustal Dynamics Data Information System: A resource to support scientific analysis using space geodesy, Advances in Space Research, Volume 45, Issue 12, 15 June 2010, Pages 1421-1440, ISSN 0273-1177, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.asr.2010.01.018.

Data Citation

International GNSS Service, GNSS Weekly Ionosphere Total Electron Content Grid Validation Product, Greenbelt, MD, USA: NASA Crustal Dynamics Data Information System (CDDIS), Accessed [[enter user data access date]] at doi:10.5067/GNSS/gnss_igsionovtec_001.

Other standard citation formats may be used for this data set and can be found at the DOI Citation Formatter website.

More information about CDDIS data citations and acknowledgments is available.

Summary

• Name: GNSS Weekly Ionosphere Total Electron Content Grid Validation Product
• Format: IONEX
• Spatial Coverage: 90.0 to -90.0, 180.0 to -180.0
• Temporal Coverage: 1998-01-01 to present
• Temporal Resolution: Daily
• File Size: 200 kb
• Platforms: GNSS (e.g., GPS)

Description

Information on the ionosphere's behavior is of great importance for radio signal propagation applications, and scientists will benefit from up-to-date and long-term ionosphere information. The main ionospheric information provided by GNSS is the electron content, which can be derived from dual-frequency observations, which are available on a global scale from the stations in the IGS network. VTEC maps can provide useful information for monitoring the effects of space weather and improvements in navigation applications.

This derived product set consists of Global Navigation Satellite System Ionosphere Vertical Total Electron Content (VTEC) comparison product (daily files) from the NASA Crustal Dynamics Data Information System (CDDIS). GNSS satellites provide autonomous geo-spatial positioning with global coverage. GNSS data sets from ground receivers at the CDDIS consist primarily of the data from the U.S. Global Positioning System (GPS) and the Russian GLObal NAvigation Satellite System (GLONASS). Since 2011, the CDDIS GNSS archive includes data from other GNSS (Europe’s Galileo, China’s Beidou, Japan’s Quasi-Zenith Satellite System/QZSS, the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System/IRNSS, and worldwide Satellite Based Augmentation Systems/SBASs), which are similar to the U.S. GPS in terms of the satellite constellation, orbits, and signal structure. GNSS observations from a global network can be utilized for atmospheric measurements. Analysis Centers (ACs) of the International GNSS Service (IGS) retrieve GNSS data on regular schedules to produce independently computed VTEC maps. The IGS Ionosphere Analysis Center Coordinator (ACC) uses these individual AC solutions to generate the official IGS VTEC maps.

The validation products are used to compare the IGS and AC solutions of generated VTEC maps. There are three types of ionosphere product evaluation/validation products: 1) the upcwWWWW.YYv.Z files provide an evaluation of the final weekly combination solution of VTEC maps with the individual analysis center contributions; 2) the gpsgDDD0.YYi.Z files are provided by the Center for Orbit Determinate (CODE) at the Astronomical Institute at the University of Bern (AIUB) Switzerland; these files contain GPS broadcast ionosphere model for day YYDDD; and 3) the ckmgDDD0.YYi.Z products are computed by CODE using their Klobuchar model, best fitting CODE’s final ionosphere solution, also available from the CDDIS.

Data Access

The GNSS Weekly Ionosphere Total Electron Content Grid Validation Products are online:

in subdirectories by year, day of year, and data type as follows:

YYYY/DDD/valid/upcwDDD7.YYv.Z

Code	Meaning
YYYY	4-digit year
DDD	3-digit day of year
YY	2-digit year
.Z	UNIX compressed file

Documentation

http://cddis.nasa.gov/Data_and_Derived_Products/GNSS/GNSS_data_and_product_archive.html