GFZ Global Ionosphere Maps

Cite as:

Brack, Andreas; Männel, Benjamin; Bradke, Markus; Brandt, Andre; Nischan, Thomas (2021): GFZ Global Ionosphere Maps. V. 1.0. GFZ Data Services. https://doi.org/10.5880/GFZ.1.1.2021.006

Status

I N R E V I E W : Brack, Andreas; Männel, Benjamin; Bradke, Markus; Brandt, Andre; Nischan, Thomas (2021): GFZ Global Ionosphere Maps. V. 1.0. GFZ Data Services. https://doi.org/10.5880/GFZ.1.1.2021.006

Abstract

This data publication contains global maps of the vertical total electron content (VTEC) of the Earth's ionosphere. They are computed at GFZ from ground GNSS data and provided on an operational basis. The dataset covers the period since the beginning of 2000 and is published in daily files.

Methods

Based on a network of around 250 GNSS stations of the tracking network of the International GNSS Service (IGS), the GFZ generates global VTEC solutions using the latest development version of the EPOS.P8 Software. Observation data from GPS, GLONASS (from 2012), and Galileo (from 2014) satellites are used. The processing is based on a rigorous least-squares approach using uncombined code and phase observations, and does not entail leveling techniques. A single-layer ionospheric model with a spherical harmonic VTEC representation is applied. VTEC values are provided with a temporal resolution of 2 hours and a spatial resolution of 2.5 degrees in latitude and 5 degrees in longitude. The processing is described in detail in Brack et al. (2021).

The solution series contains daily files (<YYYY> and <DDD> refer to the year and day of year) in the ionex data format (https://files.igs.org/pub/data/format/ionex1.pdf):

- GFZ0OPSRAP_<YYYY><DDD>0000_01D_02H_ION.IOX.gz: rapid solution published with a delay of one day
- GFZ0OPSFIN_<YYYY><DDD>0000_01D_02H_ION.IOX.gz: final solution containing the middle day of a combination of the rapid solutions of three consecutive days

The file naming follows the IGS Long Product Filename (http://acc.igs.org/repro3/Long_Product_Filenames_v1.0.pdf). All files are .gz compressed.

Authors

Brack, Andreas;GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Potsdam, Germany
Männel, Benjamin;GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Potsdam, Germany
Bradke, Markus;GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Potsdam, Germany
Brandt, Andre;GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Potsdam, Germany
Nischan, Thomas;GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Potsdam, Germany

Contact

Brack, Andreas; GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Potsdam, Germany;

Contributors

GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Potsdam, Germany

Keywords

Ionosphere, Total electron content (TEC), Atmosphere, GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, atmosphere > atmospheric structure > ionosphere

GCMD Science Keywords

EARTH SCIENCE > ATMOSPHERE
EARTH SCIENCE > SUN-EARTH INTERACTIONS > SOLAR ENERGETIC PARTICLE PROPERTIES > TOTAL ELECTRON CONTENT
Earth Remote Sensing Instruments > Passive Remote Sensing > Positioning/Navigation > GLONASS
Earth Remote Sensing Instruments > Passive Remote Sensing > Positioning/Navigation > GNSS
Earth Remote Sensing Instruments > Passive Remote Sensing > Positioning/Navigation > GPS
Earth Remote Sensing Instruments > Passive Remote Sensing > Positioning/Navigation > Galileo