Global Positioning System Total Electron Content Variation over King Sejong Station in Antarctic under the Solar Minimum Condition Between 2005 and 2009

• Published in: Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
• Main Authors: Jong-Kyun Chung, Geonhwa Jee, Chi-Na Lee
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: The Korean Space Science Society 2011
• Subjects: global positioning system; total electron content; ionosphere; Weddell Sea anomaly; Astronomy; QB1-991; Antarctic; King Sejong Station; Weddell; Weddell Sea; Antarc*; Antarctica
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.5140/JASS.2011.28.4.305; https://doaj.org/article/c83e7395f7b44dd3a9aa6762c572242f

The total electron content (TEC) using global positioning system (GPS) is analyzed to see the characteristics of ionosphere over King Sejong station (KSJ, geographic latitude 62°13′ S, longitude 58° 47′ W, corrected geomagnetic latitude 48° S) in Antarctic. The GPS operational ratio during the observational period between 2005 and 2009 is 90.1%. The annual variation of the daily mean TEC decreases from January 2005 to February 2009, but increase from the June 2009. In summer (December-February), the seasonal mean TEC values have the maximum of 26.2 ± 2.4 TEC unit (TECU) in 2005 and the minimum of 16.5 ± 2.8 TECU in 2009, and the annual differences decrease from 3.0 TECU (2005-2006) to 1.4 TECU (2008-2009). However, on November 2010, it significantly increases to 22.3 ± 2.8 TECU which is up to 5.8 TECU compared with 2009 in summer. In winter (June-August), the seasonal mean TEC slightly decreases from 13.7 ± 4.5 TECU in 2005 to 8.9 ± 0.6 TECU in 2008, and the annual difference is constantly about 1.6 TECU, and increases to 10.3 ± 1.8 TECU in 2009. The annual variations of diurnal amplitude show the seasonal features that are scattered in summer and the enhancements near equinoxes are apparent in the whole years. In contrast, the semidiurnal amplitudes show the disturbed annual peaks in winter and its enhancements near equinoxes are unapparent. The diurnal phases are not constant in winter and show near 12 local time (LT). The semidiurnal phases have a seasonal pattern between 00 LT and 06 LT. Consequently, the KSJ GPS TEC variations show the significant semidiurnal variation in summer from December to February under the solar minimum between 2005 and 2009. The feature is considered as the Weddell Sea anomaly of larger nighttime electron density than a daytime electron density that has been observed around the Antarctica peninsula.