Giorgiana De Franceschi

National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology | INGV · Section of Geomagnetism, Aeronomy and Environmental Geophysics

We design physics-informed loss functions for training Artificial Neural Network (ANN) models to forecast the ionospheric vertical Total Electron Content (vTEC) from 1 to 24 hours in advance. The ANN models exploit our physics-informed loss functions, data provided by the Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) receiver installed at Tsukuba (36....

The Antarctic and Arctic regions are Earth's open windows to outer space. They provide unique opportunities for investigating the troposphere–thermosphere–ionosphere–plasmasphere system at high latitudes, which is not as well understood as the mid- and low-latitude regions mainly due to the paucity of experimental observations. In addition, differe...

We estimate the zonal drift velocity of small-scale ionospheric irregularities at low latitude by leveraging the spaced-receivers technique applied to two GNSS receivers for scintillation monitoring installed along the magnetic parallel passing in Presidente Prudente (Brazil, magnetic latitude 12.8°S). The investigated ionospheric sector is ideal t...

During the AT-AP-RASC 2022, a special session was organized dedicated to the ionospheric effects of the exceptional January 2022 eruption of the Hunga volcano in Tonga. This spectacular event is likely of interest to a wider audience within URSI, outside of only the ionospheric research community. We therefore give here an overview of the various c...

IONORING (IONOspheric RING) is a tool capable to provide the real-time monitoring and modeling of the ionospheric Total Electron Content (TEC) over Italy, in the latitudinal and longitudinal ranges of 35°N-48°N and 5°E-20°E, respectively. IONORING exploits the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) data acquired by the RING (Rete Integrata Nazio...

SCAR has provided a unique international platform to exchange data and knowledge in this area. Now, the main challenges are to better understand the coupling between the neutral and the ionized layers of our atmosphere, and to be able to test the accuracy of the atmospheric correction given to end-users. Another challenge is to provide accurate mon...

A statistical analysis of Loss of Lock (LoL) over Brazil throughout the 24th solar cycle is performed. Four geodetic GPS dual-frequency (L1, L2) receivers, deployed at different geographic latitudes ranging from about 25° to 2° South in the eastern part of the country, are used to investigate the LoL dependence on time of the day, season, solar and...

We introduce a novel empirical model to forecast, 24 hours in advance, the Total Electron Content (TEC) at global scale. The technique leverages on the Global Ionospheric Map (GIM), provided by the International GNSS Service (IGS), and applies a nonlinear autoregressive neural network with external input (NARX) to selected GIM grid points for the 2...

The study of the preparation phase of large earthquakes is essential to understand the physical processes involved, and potentially useful also to develop a future reliable short-term warning system. Here we analyse electron density and magnetic field data measured by Swarm three-satellite constellation for 4.7 years, to look for possible in-situ i...

The paper presents an unprecedented description of the climatology of ionospheric irregularities over the Arctic derived from the longest Global Navigation Satellite Systems data series ever collected for this specific aim. Two TEC and scintillation receivers are working at Ny-Ålesund (Svalbard, NO), the first of which has been installed in late Se...

We analyse Swarm satellite magnetic field and electron density data one month before and one month after 12 strong earthquakes that have occurred in the first 2.5 years of Swarm satellite mission lifetime in the Mediterranean region (magnitude M6.1+) or in the rest of the world (M6.7+). The search for anomalies was limited to the area centred at ea...

Earthquakes are the most energetic phenomena in the lithosphere: their study and comprehension are greatly worth doing because of the obvious importance for society. Geosystemics intends to study the Earth system as a whole, looking at the possible couplings among the different geo-layers, i.e., from the earth’s interior to the above atmosphere. It...

The effect of the Earth’s ionosphere represents the single largest contribution to the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) error budget and abnormal ionospheric conditions can impose serious degradation on GNSS system functionality, including integrity, accuracy and availability. With the growing reliance on GNSS for many modern life applicat...

We describe a novel empirical technique for the regional, short-term (from seconds to minutes) forecasting of both TEC (total electron content) and scintillation indices on Global Navigation Satellite System signals. To provide TEC-forecasted values, the method exploits the continuity equation in the conservative form, while the continuity equation...

Biomass is a spaceborn polarimetric P-band (435 MHz) synthetic aperture radar (SAR) in a dawn-dusk low Earth orbit. Its principal objective is to measure biomass content and change in all the Earth's forests. The ionosphere introduces the Faraday rotation on every pulse emitted by low-frequency SAR and scintillations when the pulse traverses a regi...

The total electron content (TEC) measured from the interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) and from a dense network of global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receivers are used to assess the capability of InSAR to retrieve ionospheric information, when the tropospheric contribution to the interferometric phase is reasonably negligible....

Ionosonde data and crustal earthquakes with magnitude M≥6.0 observed in Greece during the 2003–2015 period were examined to check if the relationships obtained earlier between precursory ionospheric anomalies and earthquakes in Japan and central Italy are also valid for Greek earthquakes. The ionospheric anomalies are identified on the observed var...

Geosystemics (De Santis 2009, 2014) studies the Earth system as a whole focusing on the possible coupling among the Earth layers (the so called geo-layers), and using universal tools to integrate different methods that can be applied to multi-parameter data, often taken on different platforms. Its main objective is to understand the particular phen...

The aim of the Ionosphere Prediction Service (IPS) project is to design and develop a prototype platform to translate the prediction and forecast of the ionosphere effects into a service customized for specific GNSS user communities. The project team is composed by Telespazio (coordinator), Nottingham Scientific Ltd, Telespazio Vega Deutschland, th...

The CSES satellite, developed by Chinese (CNSA) and Italian (ASI) space Agencies, will investigate iono-magnetospheric disturbances (induced by seismicity and electromagnetic emissions of tropospheric and anthropogenic origin); will monitor the temporal stability of the inner Van Allen radiation belts and will study the solar-terrestrial coupling b...

The brokering approach can be successfully used to overcome the crucial question of searching among enormous amount of data (raw and/or processed) produced and stored in different information systems. In this paper, authors describe the Data Management System the DMS (Data Management System) developed by INGV (Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulc...

INGV is operating a network of GNSS (GPS, GLONASS, Galileo) receivers, especially modified to monitor the perturbations of the high latitudes upper atmosphere. In particular, the first GPS receiver was installed in 2003 at Ny-Ålesund (Svalbard Island, 78°55′30″N 11°55′20″E). The combined analysis of the scintillations parameters (S4 and Sigma_phi)...

Ionospheric scintillation occurs mainly at high and low latitude regions of the Earth and may impose serious degradation on GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) functionality. The Brazilian territory sits on one of the most affected areas of the globe, where the ionosphere behaves very unpredictably, with strong scintillation frequently occurr...

The definite identification of the characteristics of the geomagnetic response to Solar Wind (SW) pressure changes represents an interesting element of the magnetospheric dynamics that is also important in the Space Weather context. In the present analysis, we discriminate between magnetospheric (DL) and ionospheric (DP) contributions in the ground...

Meeting presentation 2008 related to scintillation case studies as observed in Vietnam, Ny Alesund (Arctic, Svalbard), Mario Zucchelli Station (Antarctica)

Trans-ionospheric waves experience delay proportional to the Total Electron Content (TEC), being the number of free electrons present along a satellite-receiver ray path. TEC is a highly variable quantity, influenced by different helio-geophysical parameters, such as solar activity, season, time of the day, etc. Such large variability may lead to T...

This work presents a contribution to the understanding of the ionospheric triggering of L-band scintillation in the region over Sao Paulo state in Brazil, under high solar activity. In particular, a climatological analysis of Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) data acquired in 2012 is presented to highlight the relationship between intensit...

The dispersive effect of the ionosphere on Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) images

During the ascending phase of solar cycle 24, a series of interplanetary coronal mass ejections (ICMEs) in the period 7–17 March 2012 caused geomagnetic storms that strongly affected high-latitude ionosphere in the Northern and Southern Hemisphere. GPS phase scintillation was observed at northern and southern high latitudes by arrays of GPS ionosph...

A systematic multi-parameter and multi-platform approach to study the slow process of earthquake preparation is fundamental to gain some insight on this complex phenomenon. In particular, an important contribution is the integrated analysis between ground geophysical data and satellite data. In this paper we review some of the more recent results a...

The South American ionosphere is characterized by the presence of the Equatorial Ionospheric Anomaly (EIA), which results into two crests of enhanced electron density located at ±15° off the magnetic equator. Such characterization implies a complex configuration and dynamics of the local ionospheric plasma, especially during solar maximum condition...

In the frame of the projects “BIS - BIPOLAR IONOSPHERIC SCINTILLATION AND TEC MONITORING”, PNRA 2009/B.03 and ISACCO (Ionospheric Scintillations Arctic Campaign Coordinated Observations), a network of GNSS stations have been installed since 2003 in both polar regions. All the stations are equipped with a dual-frequency GNSS receiver in order to mea...

Accurate ionospheric specification is necessary for improving human activities such as radar detection, navigation, and Earth observation. This is of particular importance in Africa, where strong plasma density gradients exist due to the equatorial ionization anomaly. In this paper the accuracy of three-dimensional ionospheric images is assessed ov...

We study ionospheric scintillation on GNSS signals at equatorial latitudes to draw a climatological picture of the low latitude ionosphere in the Brazilian sector during the ascending phase of the upcoming 2013 solar maximum. Such data have been acquired during the early stage of the CIGALA project (http://cigala.galileoic.org/), funded by the Euro...

The ionosphere is the single largest contributor to the GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) error budget and ionospheric scintillation (IS) in particular is one of its most harmful effects. The Ground Based Scintillation Climatology (GBSC) has been recently developed by INGV as a software tool to identify the main areas of the ionosphere in w...

We analyze data recorded from October 2010 to September 2011, during the ascending phase of the 24th solar cycle, from an Advanced Ionospheric Sounder-Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia ionosonde and a GPS Ionospheric Scintillation and total electron content (TEC) monitor scintillation receiver, colocated at low latitude in the Southern...

In recent years, several groups have installed high-frequency sampling receivers in the southern middle and high latitude regions, to monitor ionospheric scintillations and the total electron content (TEC) changes. Taking advantage of the archive of continuous and systematic observa-tions of the ionosphere on L-band by means of signals from the Glo...

[…] The collection of papers that forms this special issue represents the whole amplitude of research that is being conducted in the framework of GRAPE, while also connecting to other initiatives that address the same objectives in regions outside the polar regions, and worldwide, such as the Training Research and Applications Network to Support th...

In the polar regions, ground-based VHF facilities for air-traffic control are lacking (and non-existent on the Russian side of the pole) and satellite communication systems either not available or expensive to retrofit to current aircraft and hence there remains a need for HF communication systems. Unfortunately, at these latitudes space weather ca...

Observations of the effect of polar patches (fast moving regions of strong ionization) on the Doppler and time of flight behavior of HF signals propagating in the polar cap ionosphere are presented. The observed patch-induced characteristics of the HF propagation have successfully been reproduced using a simple model of the movement of the patches,...

Drifting ionospheric electron density irregularities may lead to the scintillation of transionospheric radio waves, as in the case of signals broadcast from artificial satellites. Scintillations can not only degrade signal quality but also cause receiver loss of lock on GNSS satellites, therefore posing a major threat to GNSS based applications dem...

The paper reviews the current state of GNSS-based detection, monitoring and forecasting of ionospheric perturbations in Europe in relation to the COST action ES0803 "Developing Space Weather Products and Services in Europe". Space weather research and related ionospheric studies require broad international collaboration in sharing databases, develo...

Scintillations are rapid fluctuations in the phase and amplitude of transionospheric radio signals which are caused by small-scale plasma density irregularities in the ionosphere. In the case of the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receivers, scintillation can cause cycle slips, degrade the positioning accuracy and, when severe enough, can...

Transionospheric radio signals may experience fluctuations in their amplitude and phase due to irregularity in the spatial electron density distribution, referred to as scintillation. Ionospheric scintillation is responsible for transionospheric signal degradation that can affect the performance of satellite based navigation systems. Usually, the s...

High-rate sampling data of Global Navigation Satellite Systems ionospheric scintillation acquired by a network of GPS Ionospheric Scintillation and TEC Monitor receivers located in the Svalbard Islands, in Norway and in Antarctica have been analyzed. The aim is to describe the "scintillation climatology" of the high-latitude ionosphere over both th...

We use observations of ionospheric scintillation at equatorial latitudes from two GPS receivers specially modified for recording, at a sampling rate of 50 Hz, the phase and the amplitude of the L1 signal and the Total Electron Content (TEC) from L1 and L2. The receivers, called GISTM (GPS Ionospheric Scintillation and TEC Monitor), are located in V...

Cited By (since 1996):3, Export Date: 24 June 2013, Source: Scopus, Art. No.: RS0D05

http://issuu.com/cnr-dta/docs/2011_programma_artico

Arrays of GPS Ionospheric Scintillation and TEC Monitors (GISTMs) are used in a comparative scintillation study focusing on quasi-conjugate pairs of GPS receivers in the Arctic and Antarctic. Intense GPS phase scintillation and rapid variations in ionospheric total electron content (TEC) that can result in cycle slips were observed at high latitude...