Beacon TEC Data

IMPC provides TEC measurements from Radio Beacons. In IMPC coherent radio waves at 150 and 400 MHz transmitted by several satellites of LEO-systems are monitored with local Beacon receivers.

There are several satellites of LEO-systems transmitting radion beacon signals such as:

NIMS (Navy Ionospheric Monitoring Systems)
COSMOS/TSIKADA
FORMOSAT/COSMIC

When computing the differential phase of both signals, the relative, i.e. uncalibrated TEC may be derived. While measuring the signal strength, the scintillation index S4, a measure of signal strength fluctuations, is also estimated.

The reception is performed by the receiver ITS30S which has been especially developed for beacon measurements by Northwest Research Associates, Inc.

Neustrelitz

The Beacon receiver in Neustrelitz (53.3°N / 13.1°E / 116 m) is monitoring TEC since 2007. The relative, i.e. uncalibrated TEC, is derived by computing the differential phase of both transmitted signals at 150 and 400 MHz.

Next to measuring the signal strength, the scintillation index S4, a measure of signal strength fluctuations, is also presented. Furthermore the projected measurement path between the beacon receiver at DLR Neustrelitz and the respective satellite is shown.

Example Data

Station Coordinates: Neustrelitz     53.330 deg    13.070 deg  115 m   0 hrs
 Rise Date  UT   Az  Closest UT  Az   El   SetUT Az  Satellite   Offset  Secs of Data
|-------------------||--------------------||--------||-------|  |-----| |--------|
2023-01-04 12:04 198 12:11:50.8 114.7 70.0 12:19  31 FORMOSAT 3B    80     0
2023-01-04 12:31   1 12:39:37.2  87.1 70.2 12:47 175 RADCAL         80     0
2023-01-04 12:49 325 12:55:48.4 249.9 43.2 13:02 172 FORMOSAT 3D    80     0
2023-01-04 13:19 230 13:26:27.1 297.9 28.2 13:34   6 COSMOS 2407  -200     0
2023-01-04 13:29  98 13:35:26.8  46.3 15.2 13:41 352 DMSP F15       80     0
2023-01-04 13:48 246 13:55:15.0 317.5 30.6 14:02  29 FORMOSAT 3B    80     0
2023-01-04 14:13 350 14:20:12.3 289.1 24.2 14:27 224 RADCAL         80     0
2023-01-04 14:31 302 14:35:14.3 269.5  5.9 14:39 233 FORMOSAT 3D    80     0
2023-01-04 15:09 288 15:14:27.2 324.0  6.7 15:19   2 COSMOS 2407  -200     0
2023-01-04 15:34 293 15:40:04.7 343.1 13.0 15:46  36 FORMOSAT 3B    80     0
2023-01-04 16:07 133 16:12:04.8  91.8 10.2 16:17  46 FORMOSAT 3A    80     0
2023-01-04 16:48 199 16:55:38.0 267.2 27.3 17:02 336 DMSP F15       80     0
2023-01-04 17:01 193 17:08:15.7 112.5 58.8 17:15  32 FORMOSAT 3E    80     0
2023-01-04 17:20 324 17:25:40.2  10.9 11.6 17:31  61 FORMOSAT 3B    80     0
2023-01-04 17:46 190 17:53:46.5 112.0 54.9 18:01  32 FORMOSAT 3A    80     0
2023-01-04 18:59 127 19:02:26.5  84.3  6.8 19:05  43 CASSIOPE       80     0
2023-01-04 19:30 240 19:36:56.9 313.7 36.8 19:44  29 FORMOSAT 3A    80     0
2023-01-04 20:36 357 20:43:08.8  55.7 18.8 20:50 115 COSMOS 2407  -200     0
2023-01-04 20:47 329 20:54:27.6  62.3 84.2 21:01 150 FORMOSAT 3B    80     0
2023-01-04 21:15 283 21:21:35.0 338.8 14.6 21:28  35 FORMOSAT 3A    80     0
2023-01-04 22:21 349 22:29:40.4  79.2 78.4 22:38 167 COSMOS 2407  -200     0
2023-01-04 23:01 316 23:07:09.5   6.6 11.4 23:13  57 FORMOSAT 3A    80     0
2023-01-04 23:46 241 23:53:19.6 314.5 34.9 00:00  28 FORMOSAT 3F    80     0
2023-01-05 00:15 213 00:22:53.8 301.4 77.7 00:30  30 FORMOSAT 3C    80     0
2023-01-05 00:46 332 00:52:24.8  33.4 20.9 00:59  96 FORMOSAT 3A    80     0
2023-01-05 01:32 288 01:37:57.3 339.6 13.7 01:44  34 FORMOSAT 3F    80     0
2023-01-05 01:59 258 02:06:42.7 324.3 22.7 02:13  29 FORMOSAT 3C    80     0
2023-01-05 02:28 330 02:36:22.8  57.2 67.9 02:44 142 FORMOSAT 3A    80     0
2023-01-05 03:27 264 03:31:28.3 300.6  6.5 03:36 340 RADCAL         80     0
2023-01-05 03:46 302 03:51:51.0 350.8 11.4 03:57  41 FORMOSAT 3C    80     0
2023-01-05 04:12 321 04:18:51.8 257.3 26.1 04:25 191 FORMOSAT 3A    80     0
2023-01-05 05:31 324 05:37:25.5  18.6 13.3 05:43  72 FORMOSAT 3C    80     0
2023-01-05 06:55 343 06:59:54.1 266.0 70.6 07:05 173 CASSIOPE       80     0
2023-01-05 07:15 332 07:22:09.2  44.1 31.9 07:29 116 FORMOSAT 3C    80     0
2023-01-05 08:23 358 08:27:01.2 328.2  6.3 08:31 292 DMSP F15       80     0
2023-01-05 08:37 309 08:39:52.5 280.1  5.3 08:43 235 CASSIOPE       80     0
2023-01-05 08:58 327 09:05:27.0 245.7 64.0 09:12 163 FORMOSAT 3C    80     0
2023-01-05 10:14 142 10:21:38.3  80.7 24.7 10:29  18 COSMOS 2407  -200     0
2023-01-05 10:42 311 10:47:16.8 266.1 12.1 10:52 216 FORMOSAT 3C    80     0
2023-01-05 11:58 194 12:06:27.5 283.3 75.2 12:15  10 COSMOS 2407  -200   311  202301051158n
2023-01-05 12:09   4 12:16:41.3  84.0 51.8 12:24 165 RADCAL         80     0
2023-01-05 13:45 245 13:53:04.1 305.4 18.6 14:00   5 COSMOS 2407  -200     0
2023-01-05 14:52 140 14:59:04.3  64.1 47.3 15:06 347 DMSP F15       80     0

Product Specification

Specification	Description
External parties	none
Data providers	DLR
Input data	LEO satellites e.g. COSMIC, RADCAL, FORMOSAT DMSP
Input sampling rates	up to 50 Hz for IQ samples
Reliability of data source	Data is preprocessed by DLR
Region of sensors	Germany
Sensors	Neustrelitz 53.33°, 13.070°, 115 m
Single layer shell height	400 km
Spatial resolution	below 1°
Boundaries of grid	30°N-80°N, -20°E-40°E
Temporal resolution	1 Hz
Time information	UTC Time
Reference coordinate system	ECEF coordinate system with WGS84 reference ellipsoid

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