HR: 1340h
AN: SA13A-1081    [Abstracts]
TI: Scintillation and TEC Receiver in Space (CITRIS)Instrument for Ionospheric Research*
AU: * Siefring, C L
EM: carl.siefring@nrl.navy.mil
AF: Plasma Pysics Division Naval Research Laboratory, Code 6755, Washington, CD 20375, United States
AU: Bernhardt, P A
EM: paul.bernhardt@nrl.navy.mil
AF: Plasma Pysics Division Naval Research Laboratory, Code 6755, Washington, CD 20375, United States
AB: Global ionospheric measurements of total electron content and radio scintillations provide direct inputs for space-weather models and for tracking of ionospheric disturbances. These measurements require propagation from transmitter beacons and receivers through large portions of the F- and E-region plasma. The Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) CITRIS receiver is currently in orbit at 560 km altitude on the STPSat1 satellite in a 35 degree inclination. CITRIS records TEC and radio scintillations from the global network of French DORIS beacons and from 150/400 MHz beacon transmitters on the Taiwan ROCSAT3, DMSP/F15, RADCAL, GFO and other satellites in low earth orbit. CITRIS also provides ionospheric TEC and radio scintillations in remote regions of the Earth because of the distribution of the 56 DORIS beacons around the globe. The CITRIS satellite- to-satellite measurement capability is new and exciting. A pass can go through three stages: 1) an ionospheric occultation geometry (at large distances), then 2) a nearly vertical sounding as the radio beacon passes directly over the receiver and 3) a second occultation. In such cases, it is possible to retrieve absolute TEC with less than 0.1 TECU errors. Another new capability for CITRIS is the ability to use three frequencies (150, 400, and 1067 MHz) for TEC measurements, which can also help resolve 2π ambiguities. We will report on the first six months of measurements for the CITRIS receiver. Future missions in space would benefit from flying CITRIS receivers to give global radio measurements of the ionosphere at 150, 400, 1067, and 2036 MHz. *The research was supported at NRL by ONR
DE: 7800 SPACE PLASMA PHYSICS
DE: 7900 SPACE WEATHER
DE: 7924 Forecasting (2722)
DE: 7944 Ionospheric effects on radio waves
DE: 7949 Ionospheric storms (2441)
SC: SPA-Aeronomy [SA]
MN: 2007 Fall Meeting