On the establishment of a European “Ionospheric Perturbation Detection and Monitoring (IPDM) – Network”

Abstract

The performance and reliability of radio communication, navigation and remote sensing systems become more and more important in the modern society. To maintain and further develop European expertise and capabilities in enhancing accuracy and safety of these vulnerable modern technologies, integrated services must be established. Thus, a project is proposed that mobilizes the European scientific expertise in radio science, ionospheric and space weather research, innovative monitoring and imaging techniques, modern operational data processing and networking to establish novel models, tools and near-real-time services matching present and future needs. Ionospheric perturbations such as radio scintillations caused by diffraction of radio waves at small scale time-varying plasma density irregularities, Travelling Ionospheric Disturbances (TID’s), and steep ionization gradients generated in the course of severe ionospheric storms may cause serious performance degradation. To reduce the impact of these phenomena on Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), ionospheric monitoring services already existing or planned to be established on national level, shall be integrated in a ‘European Ionospheric Perturbation Detection and Monitoring (IPDM) - Network’ to provide the required complex information in a timely and reliably manner. The European countries have the expertise and capabilities to realize this task at a high scientific and technological level by integrating interdisciplinary resources via enforced coordination of their work and closer cooperation.