On the uncertainties in the measurement of absolute (true) TEC over Indian equatorial and low latitude sectors Original Research Article

The Indian sector encompasses the equatorial and low latitude regions where the ionosphere is highly dynamic and is characterized by the equatorial ionization anomaly (EIA) resulting in large latitudinal electron density gradients causing errors and uncertainties in the estimation of range delays in satellite based navigation systems. The diurnal and seasonal variations of standard deviations in the TEC data measured during the low sunspot period 2004–2005 at 10 different Indian stations located from equator to the anomaly crest region and beyond are examined and presented. The day-to-day variability in TEC is found to be lowest at the equatorial station and increases with latitude up to the crest region of EIA and decreases beyond. Further, the measured values of TEC using grid based system are also examined with a view to ascertain the uncertainties in the measurement of the absolute value of TEC. The VTEC values derived from different satellite ray paths visible in the 5° × 5° grid over any particular location at any given point of time have shown significant differences in the TEC derived from one ray path to the other ranging from a minimum of 10% to a maximum of about 50% leading to the possibility of introducing errors in the interpolation technique. Also, the TEC values derived simultaneously along two different satellite ray paths simultaneously passing through the same sub-ionospheric point at the same point of time are found to be significantly different from each other although they are expected to be same. These uncertainties are found to be more pronounced at and around the EIA anomaly crest region with larger variations particularly around noon-time hours