The great utility of the US Global Positioning System (GPS) has led to our society?s increased dependency on precise positioning and timing services and the emergence of multiple constellations of GNSS from world economic powers such as China, Russia, and the European Union. By 2023, there will be more than 160 navigation satellites beaming over 400 signals from their medium Earth orbits (MEO). With their well-defined open signal structures and distributed global coverage, these trans-ionosphere radio signals will offer unprecedented opportunities for passive sensing and scientific study of our space environment. There are, however, enormous challenges to effectively and efficiently utilize GNSS signals and systems to accurately characterize atmospheric properties. The objective of this award is to acquire six units of multi-constellation, multi-band global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) wideband data collection systems for passive remote sensing of ionospheric phenomena. The equipment will be deployed at the Jicamarca Ionospheric Radio Observatory (JIRO) and the Arecibo Observatory (AO) to form spaced receiver arrays with existing GNSS setups to support research activities in five areas: (1) equatorial ionospheric irregularity formation and evolution mechanisms and plasma dynamics studies; (2) diagnostics of high power radio wave modification effects on ionosphere; (3) high resolution ionospheric total electron content (TEC) and TEC gradients mapping; (4) ionospheric effects on radio wave propagation; (5) development of advanced GNSS receiver algorithms for assured navigation in physically and electromagnetically challenging environments. This project will help to advance understanding of the space environment and ionosphere processes and aid the development of the next generation of satellite navigation technology. The instrument will also play an important role in enhancing undergraduate and graduate education at universities with programs in ionospheric research and GNSS engineering, strengthen collaborative relationships among universities and institutions, and support on-going outreach efforts. Data collected by the equipment will be used in GNSS signal processing and atmospheric science class projects for upper-level undergraduate and graduate level courses, in senior capstone projects, and to support graduate thesis and post-doctoral research. Processed measurements will be published online to increase public awareness of atmospheric phenomena and the advancements taking place in satellite navigation technologies.
