Space weather products for precise GNSS applications developed in the WeGA project

Space Weather covers phenomena resulting from the Sun-Earth connection that can have detrimental effects on the operation of technological systems and human activities. The sun is currently in the solar maximum and therefore the access to the key information on space weather conditions becomes very important for precision and safety of life applications that use satellite signals.

Within the scope of the WeGA (Space Weather services for precise GNSS Applications) project funded by the Ministry of State Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany, we have developed several new products and services, describing and monitoring ionospheric state and dynamics. The ionosphere is recognized as a major error source for operations of Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS). A new ionospheric model called Neustrelitz Total electron Content Model for Galileo (NTCM-G), developed by the German Aerospace Centre, has been recently adopted by the European Commission for correcting the ionospheric delay of Galileo satellite signals. As a new product NTCM-G parameters will be updated in near real time using a globally distributed GNSS receiver network. GNSS satellites broadcast ionospheric correction parameters to improve GNSS operations. However, such corrections can only mitigate 50-70% of ionospheric errors. The actual error budgets for such corrections will be computed in near real time as new products. Ionospheric perturbations can degrade the accuracy, continuity, availability, and integrity of GNSS applications. In addition, two new products representing the actual spatial gradients and temporal variations of the ionosphere will be developed and made available via DLR’s Ionosphere Monitoring and Prediction Center (IMPC, https://impc.dlr.de/) to warn GNSS users about enhanced space weather impacts.

The new products will be evaluated by GNSS users and services in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern such as the SAPOS (Satellite Positioning Service of the German National Surveying), BSH (Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency) and Hochschule Neubrandenburg.