Near Real-Time TEC Map for Europe

Latest Data

Latest Data

Product Description

Product Description

DLR's European total electron content (TEC) maps provide information about vertical TEC (VTEC) at a shell-height of 400 km for the European region between 30°N - 72°N and 30°W - 50°E. As input GPS dual-frequency data is acquired from different providers in real-time, e.g. via the German Federal Agency for Cartography and Geodesy in Frankfurt. These data is preprocessed in order to derive calibrated slant TEC (STEC) and to update the coefficients of the Neustrelitz Total Electron Content Model (NTCM) serving as ionospheric background. Subsequently the calibrated STEC measurements are assimilated into NTCM, cf. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2010RS004620/abstract. Every 15 minutes a VTEC matrix with an ionospheric grid point spacing of 2° latitude x 2° longitude is generated and stored in ASCII format. The usage of this product might help to improve the accuracy during GNSS positioning. Related validations can be found for instance in link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00190-014-0698-8. More product information is listed below.

Product Specification

Specification Description
External parties German Federal Agency for Cartography and Geodesy, data providers below
Data providers EUREF, ASI
Input data GPS dual-frequency measurements
Input sampling rates 1 s
Reliability of data source Data is preprocessed by DLR including e.g. cycle slip detection
Region of sensors Global - Used stations for TEC map generation are listed in the 
Sensors cf. station list
Single layer shell height 400 km
Spatial resolution 2° Latitude x 2° Longitude
Boundaries of grid 30°N - 72°N, 30°W - 50°E
Temporal resolution 15 min
Time information UTC Time
Reference coordinate system ECEF coordinate system with WGS84 reference ellipsoid
Algorithms 24 hours weighted least-squares estimate of DCBs, background model coefficients; 5 min updates of DCBs and background model coefficients in linear recursive filter; previous estimates serve as background for the assimilation of estimated calibrated STEC into the update background model by means of a successive correction method, cf. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2010RS004620/abstract.
File format ASCII

ASCII file format

 Header line containing: unit of TEC values, UTC time, minimum latitude in degree, maximum latitude in degree, minimum longitude in degree, maximum longitude in degree, latitude step width in degree, longitude step width in degree, size of data matrix
Data matrix with VTEC values in TECU (1e+16 electrons/m²):Upper left corner value represents the minimum longitude and maximum latitude; the lower right corner value represents the maximum longitude and minimum latitude value

 

 

Quality Information

Quality Information

Error of the NRT TEC map for Europe, derived from errors of the GNSS measurements.

Archive

[ICO]NameLast modifiedSizeDescription
[PARENTDIR]Parent Directory  -  
[DIR]2023/2024-10-11 13:09 -  
[DIR]2024/2024-07-03 08:40 -  
[DIR]latest/2024-07-03 12:32 -  
[quicklook]IMPC-thumbnail_TEC-EU-NC.png2024-08-20 05:00 25Kquicklook

This web page forms part of the European Space Agency's network of space weather services and service development activities, and is supported under ESA contract number 4000134036/21/D/MRP. For further product related information or enquiries contact the helpdesk. E-mail: helpdesk.swe@esa.int

All publications and presentations using data obtained from this site should acknowledge the Ionosphere Monitoring and Prediction Center operated by the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and The ESA Space Safety Programme.

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Access the ESA SWE Portal here: swe.ssa.esa.int