Impact

The TechTIDE warning system services may be used to interpret encountered problems with satellite-based positioning systems, satellite communication equipment, with airtraffic management and control, with HF communication and geolocation systems and radioastronomy observations. The scientific knowledge and statistical data may be used to quantify the risks involved in using such systems for vital economic and societal activities.

Few words about the unique character of the TechTIDE project: So far there are no systems for the real-time identification of the TID activity. Subsequently, operational services concerned about TIDs had to rely in forecasts of the large scale ionospheric disturbances. However, such forecasts are not sufficient to protect effectively the operation of critical systems. The reason is obvious: The TID effects have a regional character while large scale ionospheric effects produce a global disturbance. For example, to assess the impact of TIDs on EGNOS, it is of key importance to know the area affected by the event and the duration. Without this information, the mitigation techniques to inform the users affected and declare the EGNOS service unusable by a TBD time is not possible. This problematic is not solved yet and the study and potential implementation of the solution is part of TechTIDE project. The same issue stands for the effects on HF operations. TIDs affect certain areas and propagation directions and only an active network of HF transmitters and receivers can process the oblique drift data in real-time and transmit the parameters of the detected disturbances for TID detection, activity which is also part of the TechTIDE project.

Below we specify the main scientific and technological areas where TechTIDE is expected to have an impact:

• Space Weather phenomena: TechTIDE is expected to improve our understanding of Space Weather phenomena and especially of phenomena that lead to the generation of the different types of TIDs triggered by disturbances in the solar wind – magnetosphere – atmosphere coupled system. Significant advances are expected especially in relation to the specification of the TID drivers and their compatibility to the predictions of the TID detection methodologies.
• TID effects on space systems and terrestrial infrastructure: TechTIDE is expected to improve our understanding of the impact of TIDs on systems directly affected, i.e. EGNOS services, N-RTK and HF operations. TID predictions and system performance degradation data will be analysed to specify the impacts under different solar cycle phases, seasons, local times and solar wind-magnetospheric coupling conditions. Based on this analysis, we expect to specify under the current geospace and atmospheric dynamic conditions, the characteristics in the ionosphere which are perturbed due to TIDs and are of concern for specific types of operations.
• Mitigation strategies: TechTIDE will analyse viable mitigation strategies and demonstrate how these add value to operational services (i.e. EGNOS services, N-RTK and HF operations). Products generated by the TechTIDE warning system, together with the TID impact assessment, will be used to design and prepare mitigation procedures ready to be included in the provision scheme of these operational services. Operators will take advantage of these mitigation procedures to reduce the impact of TIDs on their final users bringing a clear benefit on quality of the service.