Temporal and Spatial Distribution of Phase Scintillation and GNSS Positioning Errors in Northern Canada During the 2017 September Geomagnetic Storms

High latitude phase scintillation is strongly related to geomagnetic storms. It can significantly decrease the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) performance by increasing positioning errors. Based on the scintillation data recorded by 5 ionospheric scintillation monitoring receiver (ISMR) stations, this study investigates the temporal and spatial distributions of phase scintillation occurrence during the 2017 September Geomagnetic storms, which is the severest storm in solar cycle 24. The positioning errors at these ISMR stations are estimated using precise point positioning (PPP) techniques. It is found that both the phase scintillation levels and positioning errors present strong temporal and spatial dependence. The positioning errors can increase to a maximum value of 2.54 m in the up direction. Additionally, the phase scintillation occurrence and the positioning errors are analyzed against the geomagnetic field activities, which are measured by another 5 magnetometer stations nearby the ISMR stations. Correlation between the Geometric Dilution of Precision (GDOP) normalized 3D positioning errors and the geomagnetic field horizontal component is investigated. Results show that large positioning errors tend to relate to strong geomagnetic field activities. This study is beneficial for better understanding the high latitude phase scintillation effects on GNSS positioning. It also helps to develop forecasting models to predict positioning errors during geomagnetic storms.