Phase scintillations at the polar ionosphere

A dual-frequency GPS Ionospheric Scintillation and TEC Monitor (GISTM) receiver, GSV4004B, has been installed at Alert, Canada (82.48° N, 297.75° E, corresponding to 86.95° N, 155.77° E geomagnetic coordinate) since May 2008 to study the ionospheric variability at a high-latitude location. This GISTM receiver is able to measure the Total Electron Content (TEC), and both the amplitude and phase scintillations. This study focuses on the phase scintillation observed over Alert for 26-month period from June 2008 until July 2010 where it was mostly during the minimum state of solar activity. It is found that at least 93% of the phase scintillations, sf of the observed data were in the range of 0-0.1 rad. The remaining 7% varied from 0.1 to 0.7 rad, where it mostly never exceeded 0.2 rad. σ_φ <; 0.15 is considered as insignificant. Phase scintillations were found to be increased with the increasing of solar activity where most of the cases of σ_φ > 0.15 rad were detected in 2010.