Evaluation of ionospheric scintillation in GNSS radio occultation measurements and simulations

Like any other system relying on transionospheric propagation, Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) Radio Occultation (GNSS-RO) is affected by ionospheric conditions during measurements. Regions of plasma irregularities in F region create abrupt gradients in the distribution of ionized particles. Radio signals propagated through such regions suffer from constructive and destructive contributions in phase and amplitude, known as scintillations. Different approaches have been proposed in order to model and reproduce the wave propagation through ionospheric irregularities. We present simulations considering single-slope power law model of irregularities integrated with Multiple Phase Screen (MPS) propagation. In this work, the capability of the scintillation model to reproduce features in low-latitude MetOp measurements in the early hours of DOY 76, 2015 is evaluated. Power spectral density (PSD) analysis, scintillation index, decorrelation time, and standard deviation of neutral bending angle are considered in the comparison between the simulations and RO measurements. The results demonstrate the capability of the simulator to replicate an equivalent error contribution to the neutral bending angle measurement in cases of moderate to strong scintillation.