• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.61-68
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• 2020

Recent studies have suggested that detectable ionospheric disturbances precede earthquakes. In the present study, variations in the vertical total electron content (TEC) for eight earthquakes with magnitudes of M ≥ 5.5 in the western United States were investigated during the solar maximum of 2013-2015 using United States total electron content (US-TEC) data provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Analyses of 12 earthquakes with magnitudes of 5.0 ≤ M < 5.5 in the same region were also performed. The TEC variations were examined for 40 days, including the times when the earthquakes occurred. The results indicated a correlation between earthquakes with magnitudes of M ≥ 5.0 and ionospheric TEC anomalies. TEC anomalies occurred before 60% of the earthquakes. Additionally, they were more frequently observed for large earthquakes (75%, M ≥ 5.5) than for small earthquakes (50%, 5.5 > M ≥ 5.0). Anomalous increases in the TEC occurred 2-18 days before the earthquakes as an ionospheric precursor, whereas solar and geomagnetic activities were low or moderate.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.228-235
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• 2016

We investigated pre- and post- seismic total electron content (TEC) anomalies in ionosphere caused by recent large-scale earthquakes around the globe and additionally examined whether the similar phenomena are detected in connection with the earthquakes around the Korean Penisula. TEC anomalies associated with the large-scale earthquakes showed the similar results to previous studies. In addition, we newly found the similar TEC changes from the recent 2016 Ecuador earthquake (M7.8). However, the post-seismic TEC changes would be falsely interpreted as the pre-seismic TEC changes dependent on the post-processing of TEC observation. We also investigated the possibility of TEC responses from the recent domestic earthquakes including 2016 Gyeongju earthquake but could not find any anomalous TEC changes. This is probably because the domestic earthquakes release significantly smaller acoustic wave energy than that of large-scale earthquakes occurring in plate boundaries.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.29-36
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• 2016

The East African ionosphere (3°S-18°N, 32°E-50°E) was mapped using Total Electron Content (TEC) measurements from ground-based GPS receivers situated at Asmara, Mekelle, Bahir Dar, Robe, Arbaminch, and Nairobi. Assuming a thin shell ionosphere at 350 km altitude, we project the Ionospheric Pierce Point (IPP) of a slant TEC measurement with an elevation angle of >10° to its corresponding location on the map. We then infer the estimated values at any point of interest from the vertical TEC values at the projected locations by means of interpolation. The total number of projected IPPs is in the range of 24-66 at any one time. Since the distribution of the projected IPPs is irregularly spaced, we have used an inverse distance weighted interpolation method to obtain a spatial grid resolution of 1°×1° latitude and longitude, respectively. The TEC maps were generated for the year 2008, with a 2 hr temporal resolution. We note that TEC varies diurnally, with a peak in the late afternoon (at 1700 LT), due to the equatorial ionospheric anomaly. We have observed higher TEC values at low latitudes in both hemispheres compared to the magnetic equatorial region, capturing the ionospheric distribution of the equatorial anomaly. We have also confirmed the equatorial seasonal variation in the ionosphere, characterized by minimum TEC values during the solstices and maximum values during the equinoxes. We evaluate the reliability of the map, demonstrating a mean error (difference between the measured and interpolated values) range of 0.04-0.2 TECU (Total Electron Content Unit). As more measured TEC values become available in this region, the TEC map will be more reliable, thereby allowing us to study in detail the equatorial ionosphere of the African sector, where ionospheric measurements are currently very few.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.221-228
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• 2009

We estimated the receiver and satellite differential code bias(DCB) based on the ionospheric total electron content(TEC) estimation method. The GPS network which has been operated by the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute(KASI) was designed to calculate TEC. The receiver and satellite DCB values were obtained from the weighted least square method with time interval for one hour. The results represented that the receiver DCB values are mostly varying within ${\pm}2m$ meter and are derived comparatively stable within three days. The estimated mean values of the satellite DCB show the maximum and minimum values of 4.09 nano-second(ns), -6.28ns respectively. We could detect great variations of TEC over 9 TECU difference at any time when the DCB sets were applied to TEC estimation.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.359-366
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• 2010

In this study, we developed a global ionosphere model based on measurements from a worldwide network of global positioning system (GPS). The total number of the international GPS reference stations for development of ionospheric model is about 100 and the spherical harmonic expansion approach as a mathematical method was used. In order to produce the ionospheric total electron content (TEC) based on grid form, we defined spatial resolution of 2.0 degree and 5.0 degree in latitude and longitude, respectively. Two-dimensional TEC maps were constructed within the interval of one hour, and have a high temporal resolution compared to global ionosphere maps which are produced by several analysis centers. As a result, we could detect the sudden increase of TEC by processing GPS observables on 29 October, 2003 when the massive solar flare took place.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.269-274
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• 2007

We established a regional ionospheric model for investigating ionospheric TEC (Total Electron Contents) variations over the Korean Peninsula during major geomagnetic storms. In order to monitor the ionospheric TEC variations, we used nine permanent GPS reference stations uniformly distributed in South Korea operated by the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (KASI). The cubic spline smoothing (CSS) interpolation method was used to analyze the characteristics of the ionospheric TEC variations. It has been found that variations of TEC over the Korean Peninsula increase when a major geomagnetic storm occurred on November 20, 2003. The TEC has increased about one and a half of those averaged quite days at the specific time during a geomagnetic storm. It has been indicated that the KASI GPS-derived TEC has a correlation with the geomagnetic storm indices (eq. Kp and Dst indices).

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.305-310
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• 2011

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 $62^{\circ}13'S$, longitude $58^{\circ}47'W$, corrected geomagnetic latitude $48^{\circ}S$) 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 ${\pm}$ 2.4 TEC unit (TECU) in 2005 and the minimum of 16.5 ${\pm}$ 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 ${\pm}$ 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 ${\pm}$ 4.5 TECU in 2005 to 8.9 ${\pm}$ 0.6 TECU in 2008, and the annual difference is constantly about 1.6 TECU, and increases to 10.3 ${\pm}$ 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.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.7-17
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• 2017

In South Korea, there are about 80 Global Positioning System (GPS) monitoring stations providing total electron content (TEC) every 10 min, which can be accessed through Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (KASI) for scientific use. We applied the computerized ionospheric tomography (CIT) algorithm to the TEC dataset from this GPS network for monitoring the regional ionosphere over South Korea. The algorithm utilizes multiplicative algebraic reconstruction technique (MART) with an initial condition of the latest International Reference Ionosphere-2016 model (IRI-2016). In order to reduce the number of unknown variables, the vertical profiles of electron density are expressed with a linear combination of empirical orthonormal functions (EOFs) that were derived from the IRI empirical profiles. Although the number of receiver sites is much smaller than that of Japan, the CIT algorithm yielded reasonable structure of the ionosphere over South Korea. We verified the CIT results with NmF2 from ionosondes in Icheon and Jeju and also with GPS TEC at the center of South Korea. In addition, the total time required for CIT calculation was only about 5 min, enabling the exploration of the vertical ionospheric structure in near real time.

• Journal of Positioning, Navigation, and Timing
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.175-181
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• 2018

The use of dual-frequency measurements from the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) enables us to observe precise ionospheric total electron content (TEC). Currently, many GNSS reference stations in South Korea provide both GPS and GLONASS data. In the present study, we estimated the grid-based TEC values and relative receiver differential code biases (DCB) from a GNSS network operated by the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute. In addition, we compared the diurnal variations in a TEC time series from solutions of the GPS only, the GLONASS only, and combined GPS/GLONASS processing. A significant difference between the GPS only TEC and combined GPS/GLONASS TEC at a specific grid point over South Korea appeared near the solar terminator. It is noted that GLONASS measurements can contribute to observing a variation in ionospheric TEC over high latitude regions.

• Journal of Positioning, Navigation, and Timing
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.157-161
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• 2022

The Nuri rocket developed by South Korea was launched at approximately 07:00 UT on June 21, 2022. We use GPS observations obtained from the Korean GNSS network to analyze ionospheric total electron content (TEC) disturbances induced by the 2022 Nuri rocket launch. TEC disturbances are observed south over South Korea 4-5 min after the rocket launch. In addition, the maximum depletion in the vertical TEC shows approximately 8 TEC units (TECU). We also compute a horizontal velocity from initial ionospheric disturbances triggered by the 2022 Nuri rocket launch. Its velocity is about 1.4 km/s. It may be related to the rocket's flight trajectory at the observation time of the ionospheric TEC disturbance.