GNSS POSITIONING ACCURACY OVER NIGERIA DURING GEOMAGNETIC STORM OF OCTOBER 24-27, 2011 AND OCTOBER 7-10, 2012

Abstract

This work investigates the positioning error of five Nigeria GNSS network stations during the geomagnetic storm of 24-27October 2011a sudden storm commencement (SSC) and 7-10 October, 2012 a gradual storm commencement (GSC). Since geomagnetic storm is a phenomenon we have to live with, knowing how and to what extent it affects our technology become crucial. Satellite data were obtained from Nigeria GNSS network stations; Disturbed Storm Time (DST) values were obtained from World Data Center (WDC) for Geomagnetism Kyoto, Japan while the quiet period were selected with Ap index of zero (0) and one (1) for the two storms respectively from the same world data center. RTKLIB (version 2.4.2) GNSS analysis software was used to determine the positioning of the station during the selected storm period and quiet period and the result analyzed using MATLAB. This investigation revealed that during the selected storm period, the positioning error of the station increases; the two storms do not have the same effect on the GNSS positioning.