Abstract: The conventional spaced-receiver
approach uses amplitude scintillations
to estimate equatorial ionospheric
irregularity drift velocities. This
approach is less applicable at high
latitudes where there is a lack of
substantial amplitude scintillations.
This dissertation presents a method to
estimate ionosphere irregularity
horizontal drift velocities based on
GNSS signal carrier phase
measurements. After applying an
adaptive periodogram technique, cross
correlation in the time-frequency
domain produces time lag information
of propagating radio signals through
the same ionospheric structure. Three
velocity models are implemented to
target specific irregularity shapes,
including the point velocity model, the
front velocity model, and the
anisotropy model. The irregularity
height can also be inferred from the
anisotropy model. The time lag
information are combined these
parameters to infer ionospheric
irregularity horizontal drift velocity. This
dissertation presents the methodology
and demonstrates its feasibility using
data collected by a GNSS receiver-
array at Gakona, Alaska, and a more
recent establishment at Fairbanks,
Alaska with other in-situ ionosphere
monitoring instruments such as an all-
sky imager and an incoherent scatter
radar.

Adviser: Yu (Jade) Morton
Co-Adviser: N/A
Non-ECE Member: Olivier Pinaud, Math
Member 3: J. Rockey Luo, ECE
Addional Members: Charles Rino, ECE

Publications:
Wang, J., Morton, Y., Spaleta, J..& Bristow W (2014)., Spatial Characterization of High Latitude Ionosphere Scintillation Using An Array of Software Receiver Measurements Proc. ION GNSS+ 2014, Tampa, FL.
Wang, J., & Morton, Y. T. (2015). High-Latitude Ionospheric Irregularity Drift Velocity Estimation Using Spaced GPS Receiver Carrier Phase Time–Frequency Analysis. IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing, 53(11), 6099-6113.
Wang, J., Morton, Y., Spaleta, J..& Bristow W (2016). A Comparative Study of Ionospheric Irregularity Drift Velocity using a GNSS Receiver Array and SuperDARN at High Latitude. Proc. ION ITM 2016, Monterey, CA.
Wang, J., & Morton, Y. T. (2017a) A Comparative Study of Time Domain and Joint Time-Frequency Domain Methods for Ionospheric Irregularity Drift Velocity Estimation from a GNSS Receiver Array during High Latitude Ionospheric Scintillation,” IES2017, Alexandria, VA, 2017
Wang, J., & Morton, Y. T. (2017b). A Comparative Study of Ionospheric Irregularity Drift Velocity Derived from a GNSS Receiver Array and PFISR Measurements during High Latitude Ionospheric Scintillation. J. Geophys. Res. Space Physics, 122, 2017. doi:10.1002/3028JA024015.

Program of Study:
ECE514
ECE581A4
ECE581A6
ECE651
ECE795
ECE799
MATH618
GSTR600