A multi-mission topside Total Electron Content product from GNSS-POD receivers on-board the EUMETSAT satellites
Presenter:
Riccardo Notarpietro
Eumetsat
Eumetsat
Talk
EUMETSAT is running several satellite missions carrying on board a GNSS receiver for Precise Orbit Determination (POD) purposes. All these receivers collect signals from Low Earth Orbit heights, thus crossing solely the ionosphere. Such data can therefore be used to monitor the overall electron content characterizing the topside region above the LEO satellites (namely the topside Total Electron Content - tTEC). Each tracked GNSS signal is in fact sensitive to the Total Electron Content in the LEO-GNSS link, which can be routinely estimated by processing dual frequency received data with the knowledge of the precise orbits of the LEO and GNSS satellites.
This contribution summarizes the activities started at EUMETSAT for generating the tTEC. It describes also the product we intended to deliver to the user community, which contain tTECs as well as the Differential Code Biases estimated for the GNSS-POD receivers used in the framework of the EUMETSAT missions. The contribution discusses also the new ionospheric monitoring capabilities that will be activated in the framework of the future EPS Second Generation constellation.
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