PUBLICATIONS
Radio Science
RESEARCH ARTICLE
10.1002/2014RS005433
Special Section:
Beacon Satellite Symposium
2013
Key Points:
• Daily ROTI maps created on base
of observations of about 700
GNSS stations
• ROTI maps allow to estimate overall
fluctuation activity evolutions
• Ionospheric irregularities are driving
forces of space weather phenomena
Correspondence to:
I. Cherniak,
tcherniak@ukr.net
Citation:
Cherniak, I., A. Krankowski, and
I. Zakharenkova (2014), Observation of
the ionospheric irregularities over the
Northern Hemisphere: Methodology
and service, Radio Sci., 49, 653–662,
doi:10.1002/2014RS005433.
Received 14 MAR 2014
Accepted 21 JUL 2014
Accepted article online 24 JUL 2014
Published online 21 AUG 2014
CHERNIAK ET AL.
Observation of the ionospheric irregularities
over the Northern Hemisphere:
Methodology and service
Iurii Cherniak1,2, Andrzej Krankowski1, and Irina Zakharenkova1,2
1
Space Radio-Diagnostic Research Center, University of Warmia and Mazury, Olsztyn, Poland, 2West Department of IZMIRAN,
Kaliningrad, Russia
Abstract Observation and analysis of the ionospheric irregularities at the high latitudes using GPS
measurements represent very actual task for both scientific point of view and Global Navigation Satellite
Systems (GNSS) applications, as the occurrence of the ionospheric irregularities can impact a variety of
communication and navigation systems. In this paper we describe methodology and service for continuous
generation of high-resolution maps of the ionospheric irregularities. To observe the high-latitude ionospheric
irregularities, data collected from three ground-based GPS networks of the Northern Hemisphere are processed
and analyzed. Here we used parameters ROT (rate of total electron content (TEC) change) and ROTI (index of
ROT) to study the occurrence of TEC fluctuations Pi et al. (1997). ROTI maps are constructed with the grid of
2° × 2° resolution as a function of the magnetic local time and corrected magnetic latitude. The ROTI maps
allow to estimate the overall fluctuation activity and auroral oval evolutions, in general, the ROTI values are
corresponded to the probability of the GPS signals phase fluctuations. We demonstrate that the occurrence
and magnitude of TEC fluctuations, measured using GNSS networks, increase dramatically during space
weather events. The irregularities oval expands considerably equatorward with simultaneous increase of the
fluctuation intensity.
1. Introduction
The ionosphere is a part of the upper atmosphere and is formed by the ultraviolet ionizing radiation from the
Sun. The ionosphere plays an important role in Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) applications
because it influences radio wave propagation through. The ionosphere delay is the biggest error source for
satellite navigation systems, but it can be directly measured and mitigated with using dual-frequency GNSS
receivers. However, GNSS signal fading due to electron density gradients and irregularities in the ionosphere
raises a concern about the operational availability of navigation system [Jakowski et al., 2004; Sreeja et al.,
2012]. It is known that GNSS radio signals passing through the ionosphere suffer varying degrees of rapid
variations of their amplitude and phase—signal fluctuations, referred as scintillations, are created by random
fluctuations of the medium’s refractive index, which are caused by inhomogeneities inside the ionosphere.
These effects are caused by the presence of a wide range of scale-size irregularities in the ionosphere.
Nowadays, there is a high demand to increase the performance and reliability of GNSS positioning. The
spatial and temporary dynamics of the ionosphere fluctuations depends on geophysical conditions, and
detailed study of these effects is very important, especially during space weather events. For this reason
several types of analysis of the ionospheric total electron content (TEC) fluctuations effects on GNSS signals
have been carried out [e.g., Jakowski et al., 2005; Krankowski et al., 2006] and still actual nowadays. Usually
GPS positioning requires a minimum of four simultaneously tracked satellites with good geometry [Misra and
Enge, 2006]. If electron density irregularities cover a big area above a receiver, there is a high probability
that a receiver can lose more than one satellite signal simultaneously. Simultaneous loss of a significant
number of satellites signal discontinues GNSS navigation or degrades the navigation accuracy. Therefore,
strong ionosphere TEC gradients and resulted fluctuations and signal scintillations could be hazardous in
terms of continuity and availability for GNSS navigation [Forte and Radicella, 2004].
Ionospheric scintillation depends on solar and geomagnetic activity, season, time of day, geographical
location, and frequency. Scintillations occur predominantly in the equatorial band that extends from about
20°S to 20°N of the magnetic equator, and in the auroral and polar cap regions. A lot of studies devoted to
©2014. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved. 653
 Radio Science 10.1002/2014RS005433

investigation of ionospheric scintillations and fluctuations in equatorial ionization anomaly region, where
these effects are observed frequently [Van Dierendonck and Arbesser-Rastburg, 2004; Doherty et al., 2000;
Li et al., 2007]. Furthermore, the research of the ionospheric scintillations and fluctuations at midlatitudes and
subauroral regions is more actual task because a lot of GNSS precise positioning users are situated in this area.
In the high-latitude ionosphere, several irregularity source mechanisms have been presented—particle
precipitation, plasma instabilities, and neutral composition dynamics. The ionospheric fluctuation activity in
polar, subauroral, and midlatitude regions is primarily associated with geomagnetic storms, coronal mass
ejections, coronal holes, etc. Processes in the ionosphere during these events lead to the formation of the
horizontal TEC gradients with TEC enhancement which leads to phase and amplitude scintillation as reported
by many researchers [e.g., Jakowski et al., 2004; Krankowski et al., 2006]. During strong geomagnetic storms
rapid phase fluctuations have been detected by both the GPS and Global Navigation Satellite System
(GLONASS) receivers even in midlatitude Europe [Jakowski et al., 2005].
Ionospheric irregularities can be characterized by measuring its impact on amplitude and phase of the
received GNSS signal. The most widely considered measures are the scintillation indices (i.e., amplitude and
phase), and the TEC rapid changes. The amplitude scintillation index S4 measures the standard deviation of the
normalized signal intensity, typically over a 60 s period. Other parameters, used for characterization of the TEC
fluctuations activity, are Rate of TEC changes (ROT) and Rate of TEC changes Index (ROTI). The relationship
between amplitude scintillations and TEC fluctuations has been explored by a number of authors. The ROTI
and S4 are the important indices in monitoring the ionospheric irregularities. ROTI corresponds well with the
trend of S4 indices during the generation, evolution, and decay phase of amplitude scintillation. The scale-
length of ROTI corresponds to the large-scale irregularities, while the scale-length of S4 corresponds to the
small-scale irregularities. When the scintillation events of S4 occur, the probability that the ROTI scintillation
events occur simultaneously is very high, which shows that the large and small-scale irregularities are
interrelated. Based on the results reported by Pi et al. [1997], Basu et al. [1999], and Beach and Kintner [1999]
there was done conclusion that ROTI could be used as a proxy for assessing the presence of the ionospheric
scintillation. So, ROTI can be regarded as an effective indicator of the presence both of phase fluctuations and
the amplitude scintillation in the high-latitude ionosphere.
The IGS (International GNSS Service) global system of satellite tracking stations, Data Centers, and Analysis
Centers puts high-quality GPS data and data products online in near real time to meet the objectives of a
wide range of scientific and engineering applications and studies. The IGS collects, archives, and distributes
GPS observation data sets of sufficient accuracy to satisfy the objectives of a wide range of applications and
experiments. The GNSS observations provided by IGS network permanent stations, with a 30 s sampling,
allow to detect the ionospheric irregularities with a scale size of about tens of kilometers. In the auroral
ionosphere, there is evidence for large-scale (λ > 10 km) structure and irregularities being produced by
particle precipitation events and subsequent formation of large-scale size plasma enhancements [Keskinen
and Ossakow, 1983]. These irregularities manifested as a phase fluctuations that can be detected using
thousands of permanent GNSS stations already deployed around the globe.
According to the recommendation of the Ionosphere Working Group of IGS at the IGS 2012 Workshop “Starting
a new official/operational product—TEC fluctuation changes over the North Pole to study the dynamic of
oval irregularities,” we propose version of the product that can represent the ionospheric fluctuations in a
map format. Such maps can be useful for space weather monitoring and navigation by combining them with
currently produced IGS global ionospheric maps or regional ionospheric TEC maps.

2. Methodology
In order to analyze TEC fluctuation activity over the North Pole, there were considered the Northern Hemisphere
polar, subauroral, and midlatitude regions geographically located from 45°N geomagnetic latitude to the North
Pole. This area is covered by permanent GNSS stations of the IGS, European Permanent Network (EPN), and
the Polar Earth Observing Network Greenland Network of POLENET networks. As of initial database we involved
observations of more than 700 permanent stations which are available from IGS, University NAVSTAR Consortium
(UNAVCO), and European Reference Frame (EUREF) services (Figure 1). The position of the geomagnetic pole
is indicated by the red dot. Such number of GNSS stations and their location around geomagnetic pole
provides quite enough data for representation of a detailed structure of the ionospheric irregularities pattern.

CHERNIAK ET AL. ©2014. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved. 654
 Radio Science 10.1002/2014RS005433

Our methodology is based on the

studies carried out at the Geodynamics
Research Laboratory of the University
of Warmia and Mazury (UWM) in
cooperation with the West Department
of IZMIRAN [Krankowski et al., 2006;
Shagimuratov et al., 2012; Sieradzki et al.,
2013]. The well-known algorithms of
TEC estimation from the frequency-
differenced GPS phase delay were used
from [Hofmann-Wellenhof, 2001]. Also,
during phase TEC processing there was
done detection and correction of cycle
slips and loss-of-lock. Monitoring the
time derivative of TEC (ROT, rate of TEC
change) is useful for tracing the presence
of the ionospheric irregularities. ROT, as
a measure of phase fluctuation activity, is
calculated using the algorithm that was
proposed by Pi et al. [1997]:

TEC ik  TEC ik1

Figure 1. Geographical map with position of analyzed GPS stations. ROT ¼ (1)
ðt k  tk1 Þ

where i is the visible satellite and k is the time of epoch. In standard receiver-independent exchange (RINEX)
files raw data were sampled every 30 s. ROT is calculated in units of TECU (total electron content unit,
1 TECU = 1016 el m2)/min for each visible satellite over GNSS station. In order to process RINEX data from
multisite GPS receivers, UNAVCO TEQC software for RINEX quality checking and in-house developed FORTRAN
routines to calculate ROT values were used. The ROT values are calculated and then detrended for all individual
satellite tracks for elevation angles over 20°.
As it was already mentioned above, the Rate of TEC Index can characterize effectively the ionospheric
fluctuation activity. ROTI is defined as the standard deviation (taken over 5 min) of the detrended rate of
change of TEC (ROT) [Pi et al., 1997]. Based on the retrieved values of ROT, the ROTI values are calculated over
5 min periods with running window for each station (equation (2)):
qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
 
ROTI ¼ ROT2  hROT i2 (2)

To observe the spatial behavior of the ionospheric fluctuations over the North Pole, we process ROTI data
from considered multisite database and visualize result in the form of ROTI map. Here it used a single-layer
model that was based on the assumption that all concentrations of the electrons are located in an infinitely
thin spherical shell at 350 km height; locations of the fluctuations are related to the locations of the
ionosphere piercing points. The navigational information was used to calculate the coordinates of these
points. Due to strong connections between the Earth’s magnetic field and the ionosphere, the behavior of the
fluctuation occurrence is represented as a function of the magnetic local time (MLT) and of the corrected
magnetic latitude.
It should be noted that despite the inclination of GPS satellites orbits is 55°, the GPS satellites are observed
at rather high-elevation angles for the ground-based GPS stations, located close to the geomagnetic pole.
For example, over IGS station QIKI (67.55°N, 64.03°E) the GPS satellites are viewable with elevation angles up
to 70°. The difference between geomagnetic and geographical coordinate systems results in opportunity
to use GPS measurements for monitoring the auroral ionosphere. Moreover, the presented approach and
methodology, being tested with GPS constellation’s measurements, can be further used with data of other
GNSS systems, e.g., GLONASS with 64.8° inclination.

CHERNIAK ET AL. ©2014. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved. 655
 Radio Science 10.1002/2014RS005433

Each map, as a daily map, demonstrates ROTI variation with

geomagnetic local time (00–24 MLT). ROTI maps are constructed
with the grid of 2° × 2° resolution. Figure 2 shows a quadrant of
ROTI map grid. The uniform grid on a polar projection leads to
the different physical cell sizes (in km) from lower to higher
magnetic latitude (MLAT). But two options can mitigate these
differences. First, the value in every cell is calculated by
averaging of all ROTI values cover by this cell area, and it is
proportional to the fluctuation event probability in the current
sector. If in the cell there are only few ROTI values (less than 30),
this grid cell is marked as a blank. This also will allow to avoid
Figure 2. Example of the part of ROTI map grid. frequent errors of interpolation techniques, related with
unrealistic interpolation values over areas with data gaps.
Another option is related to higher probability of the occurrence of the intense ionospheric irregularities,
produced by auroral particles precipitations, at higher latitudes. In such a way, the lager size of cells at lower
latitudes allows to normalize in natural way the sensitivity of the applied technique.
The ROTI maps, constructed by such way, allow to estimate the overall fluctuation activity and auroral oval
evolutions. For generation of ROTI map there are processed observations of more than 700 permanent
stations which are available from IGS, UNAVCO, and EUREF networks in 2011–2013. It is necessary to note that
for earlier periods with interesting events for retrospective analysis, the number of available GPS permanent
stations was not so high as nowadays. For example, in 2004, GPS data from about 250 stations are available
and about 400 for 2009, but our methodology still be usable without essential gaps on the maps when at least
200 stations can be processed.
Figure 3 shows the overall scheme of the ROTI maps product generation at Geodynamics Research Laboratory of
the UWM. The service is established to automatically download RINEX observational and navigational files,
unzip and process data, and generate ionospheric products. The ionospheric fluctuation product in graphical and
ASCII IONosphere Map EXchange Format (IONEX)-like format will be available for users via service web page.

3. Ionospheric Irregularities Measured Using GNSS Networks: Case Study

It is known that structure and dynamics of the ionosphere are highly sensitive to the geomagnetic
disturbance activity that occurs regularly within the Earth’s magnetosphere. Occurrence of the
ionospheric irregularities is difficult to predict and to model, because of the temporal and spatial
variability of the ionosphere and solar activities that are driving forces of the space weather
phenomena. The constructed ROTI maps allow to estimate the overall fluctuation activity and auroral
oval evolutions. For the case study analysis, we selected two geomagnetic storms of the new 24th
solar cycle with similar intensity described by Dst index but different initial and recovery conditions.
The data about space weather conditions were obtained from NASA OMNIWeb service located on
ftp://spdf.gsfc.nasa.gov/pub/data/omni.
The first case—the geomagnetic storm
which was initiated by sharp increase of
the proton flux and pressure with the
maximum before the 23:00 UT on 24
October 2011, sharp change of magnitude
and sign of the interplanetary magnetic
field (IMF) Bz component (Figure 4). The
Dst index reached its minimum value of
118 nT at 05:00 UT on 25 October 2011.
Additionally, before the main storm’s
phase there was remarkable increase
of the solar wind density and pressure,
as well as remarkable variations of IMF
Figure 3. TEC fluctuation service operation diagram. Bz component on 23 October 2011.

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 Radio Science 10.1002/2014RS005433

Figure 4. The interplanetary geomagnetic field Bz component, density, and pressure of solar wind, Dst, and AE indices
variations for 23–29 October 2011.

The duration of the geomagnetic storm’s main phase was about 4 h, and then the recovery phase started with
duration of about 48 h. Variations of AE index, presented at Figure 4, show the increase of auroral activity
related with energetic particle precipitations.
As reported by de Jesus et al. [2013], this geomagnetic disturbance with fast decrease of Dst on the night of
24 and 25 October leads to a prompt penetration of electric field of magnetospheric origin to the ionosphere
and to a positive ionospheric storm on the night of 24 and 25 October observed in the foF2 variations at
midlatitude stations and the GPS-vertical total electron content observations at midlatitude and low-latitude
stations in American sector. During the daytime on 25 October, the variations in foF2 and TEC at midlatitude
stations show large negative ionospheric storm.
Figure 5 presents the variability of ROT values for the period of 23–28 October 2011, calculated for all
visible GPS satellite passes over chain of selected European GNSS stations, stretched from 70°N to
50°N practically along the same meridian. It was observed the intensification of fluctuation activity on
23 October after 12 UT at stations in polar region TRO1 and KIRU. This fluctuation is related with
comparatively moderate increase of solar wind density and pressure and slow variations of IMF Bz. The
most intensive fluctuations were observed after 18 UT on 24 October, the beginning of this effect was
started before rapid changes of the IMF Bz component and was controlled also by solar wind pressure.
During period from 22 UT 24 October to 06 UT 25 October the fluctuation activity reached peak, and
fluctuation events registered even at midlatitude stations VIS0 and LAMA. During the geomagnetic storm

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 Radio Science 10.1002/2014RS005433

Figure 5. Variability of ROT values over chain of selected European GNSS stations (23–28 October 2011). Right vertical axis
shows the number of satellite (PRN).

recovery phase (26–28 October) the strong fluctuation events were registered only at the auroral GNSS
stations TRO1 and KIRU and during nighttime.
Figure 6 illustrates the structure and intensity of the ionospheric irregularities for the period from 23 to 28
October 2011. The sequence of graphs shows the day to day evolution of the ionospheric fluctuation pattern
before the storm’s main phase and during the main and recovery phase of geomagnetic disturbance. The
ROTI maps, constructed by such way, allow to estimate the overall fluctuation activity and auroral oval evolution.
The graphs illustrate that during moderate-disturbed days before the main phase of storm, the most intense
irregularities were located in the night sector near cusp region and oval border, not crossing 70°. With evolution
of the geomagnetic disturbance the fluctuation activity also raised and expanded to 75° in night sector on
24 October and up to midlatitudes until the local noon of 25 October. After the magnetosphere and ionosphere
recovery and decreasing of solar wind intensity, the fluctuation activity pattern was registered again near cusp
at night time and with lower intensity in comparison with the first considered day of 23 October 2011.
Geomagnetic disturbance, occurred on June 2013, has caused the appreciable ionosphere’s response. The
ionospheric storm was the result of the strong geomagnetic disturbances occurred after midnight on 1 June
2013. Before the storm occurrence the parameters, characterized solar wind density and pressure, had low
values and no remarkable variations of IMF Bz were observed. Geomagnetic storms were initiated by increasing
of proton flux and pressure with the maximum before the midnight between 31 May and 1 June 2013, observed
at GOES satellites (Figure 7), and turn of sign to negative of interplanetary magnetic field Bz component.
Due to Earth and interplanetary magnetic fields reconnection the magnetosphere became open and energy
can be transferred from solar wind to magnetosphere. The main phase onset of the storm took place on
1 June 2013 after 02:00 UT, when the Dst index changed from 21 nT to negative values. The Dst index reached
the minimum value of 119 nT on 1 June at 08 UT, after that the phase of recovery began. AE index reached its
peak value of about 1200 nT on 06 UT and varied during 2 and 4 June within the limits of 600 nT. The main
phase duration of geomagnetic disturbance was about 6 h, the recovery phase—about 36 h.

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 Radio Science 10.1002/2014RS005433

Figure 6. Daily ROTI maps for 23–28 October 2011.

The ROT values (Figure 8) calculated for chain of European permanent GNSS stations show very low fluctuation
activity during day (30 May 2013) before solar wind increasing and geomagnetic storm beginning on all stations,
midlatitude and auroral. The intensification of fluctuation activity was initiated near 18 UT on 31 May 2013 by
increasing the solar wind density and pressure and then moderate IMF Bz variations. Initially, the fluctuations
appeared at the auroral stations TRO1 and KIRU. Increase of ROT index at the midlatitude stations MAR6, VIS0, and
LAMA started after 00 UT when IMF Bz component rapidly varied and changed it sign. The maximum values of
ROT index were observed during the geomagnetic storm’s main phase when the maximal changes of space
weather parameters were registered. The fluctuations were observed during 1 and 2 June 2013 at night time
with high values of ROT and daytime with medium ROT values. The intensity of fluctuations was decreased
during the storm’s recovery phase, and they were observed only at the auroral stations but did not become
equal to the level of the day before storm due to the sign-changed IMF Bz variations (Figures 8 and 9).
The ROTI map (Figure 9), corresponded to 30 June 2013, demonstrates the very weak overall fluctuation
intensity when rather low ROTI values appeared within 68° circle. For the day of 1 June 2013, which
corresponded to the main phase of storm, the ROTI map demonstrates the very high fluctuation activity in the
sector corresponded to the local night conditions, the remarkable fluctuations were registered up to 55° MLAT.
Maps for the next day show also high-fluctuation activity level, fluctuation oval southern border was situated on
75°–78°. During the next 2 days of 3 and 4 June 2013 the intensity of fluctuation activity was remarkably
decreased, the fluctuation oval position was placed within 70° MLAT but did not reach the prestorm level.

4. Summary
Although the physics of the ionosphere irregularities has been studied for several decades [e.g., Singleton et al.,
1961; Keskinen and Ossakow, 1983], the characteristics of these effects on GPS signals are still not well explained,
and the current navigation system is still vulnerable to strong irregularity events. Large-scale irregularities
and associated TEC fluctuations can complicate phase ambiguity resolution, increase the number of undetected
and uncorrected cycle slips and losses of signal lock in GNSS [Wanninger, 1992; Jakowski et al., 2005]. So, the
knowledge about morphology and spatial and temporal dynamics of the ionospheric fluctuations, dependences
on geophysical factors are of high importance. Maps of the ionospheric fluctuation activity can be usable for
retrospective estimation of the space weather impact on positioning and potentially for the future development
of the forecasting algorithms as well as for the ionospheric irregularities model testing.

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 Radio Science 10.1002/2014RS005433

Figure 7. The interplanetary geomagnetic field Bz component, density, and pressure of solar wind, Dst, and AE indices
variations for 30 May to 5 June 2013.

In this paper we present the service generating the new product for research of the ionospheric fluctuation
activity over auroral and midlatitudes of the Northern Hemisphere. The service is based on the GPS
measurements provided by international permanent GNSS networks such as IGS, UNAVCO, and EPN. The
methodology of ROTI map creation is based on the classical approach [Pi et al., 1997] with accounting of the IGS
Ionosphere Working Group requirements. The constructed service will provide for users the daily fluctuation
maps in graphical and IONEX-like format, as well as the diurnal ROT variations for all satellites over each station,
passed the postprocessing procedure. For calculation of the fluctuation activity indices there are used
measurements of more than 700 stations that belong to international permanent GNSS networks. One of the
advantages of such ROTI maps construction is that there is not applied any interpolation technique for ROTI
mapping, result is real observations, averaged in each cell of 2° × 2°. This will allow to avoid errors related with
unrealistic interpolation values over areas with data gaps. Next is the high spatial resolution of the resulted
maps. Another advantage of the service will be a free access to these products for the scientific community and
availability to download and analyze data on a continuous daily basis for several previous years.
The ROTI maps allow to estimate the overall fluctuation activity and auroral oval evolutions, the values of
ROTI index are corresponded to the probability of GPS signals phase fluctuations as well as the local intensity
of the ionospheric irregularities (by ROT index) over every processed GNSS stations.
Occurrence of the ionospheric irregularities is driven by forces of the space weather phenomena, and
considered case studies demonstrate the ability to retrieve information about the ionospheric irregularities

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 Radio Science 10.1002/2014RS005433

Figure 8. Variability of ROT values over chain of selected European GNSS stations (30 May to 4 June 2013). Right vertical
axis shows the number of satellite (PRN).

Figure 9. Daily ROTI maps for 30 May to 4 June 2013.

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 Radio Science
Acknowledgments
The authors thank IGS, UNAVCO, and
EUREF for making available GPS mea-
surements data and the National Space
Science Data Center for Space Weather
data. The authors are grateful to Xiaoqing
Pi from JPL for his helpful discussion
and advices in private correspondence.
CHERNIAK ET AL.
10.1002/2014RS005433
structure, position, and duration. Obtained results show clear dependence of the ionospheric fluctuation
activity, described by ROT and ROTI, on solar wind and IMF parameter variations. The occurrence and
magnitude of TEC fluctuations, measured using GNSS networks, increase dramatically during space weather
events. The irregularities oval expands considerably equatorward with simultaneous increase of the
fluctuation intensity. We found that during quiet ionospheric conditions the fluctuation events are mainly
observed during geographic or magnetic local night time within the circle of 70° MLAT and practically are not
registered in the dayside sector.
The indices and maps, based on TEC changes, can be effective and very perspective indicator of the presence
of phase fluctuations in the high-latitude and midlatitude ionosphere. We expect the high potential of the
proposed service and its products; however, it is the only tool and great work should be done on data
processing, statistical analysis, comparative or/and joint investigations with other ionospheric measurements.
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