Investigation of ionospheric scintillation over South Africa and the South Atlantic Anomaly using GPS signals: First results

Transionospheric radio communications and radio signals reflected from the Earth´s ionosphere can be degraded when irregularities in the electron density of the ionosphere cause rapid variations in the amplitude and phase of such signals. Signals from GPS satellites which undergo scintillations can be used to characterise the location and extent of ionospheric scintillations and improve models for the prediction of ionospheric scintillations. The region in the South Atlantic Ocean where the Earth´s magnetic field is weakest, known as South Atlantic Magnetic Anomaly (SAMA), is potentially a region where ionospheric scintillation may be more severe due to the precipitation of high energy particles from the Earth´s radiation belts. This paper presents some of the first ionospheric scintillations observed by means of GPS signals received by dedicated scintillation monitors deployed in the mid-and auroral latitudes of the Southern Hemisphere since 2007.