AI Insight
Researchers have created a catalog of 263 dispersive arcs detected in GPS and Galileo satellite signals recorded by the Lunar GNSS Receiver Experiment during the Blue Ghost Mission 1 from cislunar space and the lunar surface. These arcs represent distortions caused by Earth's ionosphere and plasmasphere as satellite signals passed through these plasma layers, with each arc characterized by timing, altitude, electron content measurements, and geomagnetic conditions. The catalog enables new ways to study Earth's upper atmosphere from the unique vantage point of the Moon.
Why it matters
This dataset provides a novel perspective on Earth's plasma environment from lunar orbit and surface, complementing traditional ground-based and low Earth orbit measurements. It could improve space weather monitoring and our understanding of how Earth's upper atmosphere behaves during different solar activity phases.
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⚠️ Preprint – Noch nicht peer-reviewed
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Abstract: This dataset is a catalog of 263 dispersive arcs induced by ionospheric and plasmaspheric occultation observed in GNSS signals recorded by the Lunar GNSS Receiver Experiment (LuGRE) payload during Blue Ghost Mission 1 (BGM1), in cislunar space and on the lunar surface. Occultation arcs are identified and classified as ingress, egress or tangent by combining independently GPS and Galileo dual-frequency observables and computing the rate of the total electron content (ROT) and ROT index (ROTI), and are validated through a geometric criterion based on the grazing altitude of the tangent point. No distinction is made between the ionospheric and plasmaspheric contributions to each arc, which is treated as a single dispersive signature. For each arc, the catalog provides timing, grazing altitude, summary ROT/ROTI/$Delta$STEC attributes, the geomagnetic activity level, and time series of leveled slant total electron content (STEC), not corrected for instrumental biases, ROT, ROTI, tangent-point position and local time. The HDF5 (Hierarchical Data Format version 5) file contains a header with dataset-wide metadata and per-class statistics, and one entry per arc. It enables rapid selection of occultation arcs for statistical studies and targeted analyses, and complements ground-based and low Earth orbit radio-occultation data during the declining phase of solar cycle 25.