GPS Positioning Performance Analysis under St. Patrick's Day 2015 Geomagnetic Storm Conditions

The geomagneticstorm isaspace weather phenomenon that severely affects GPS positioning and satellite nd HF communications links. The GPS radio-wave signalspropagating through the ionosphere are vulnerable due to geomagnetic storms. A severe geomagnetic storm(the St. Patrick's Day storm) occurred on 17-18 March 2015. In this paper, GPS positional errors are obtained using RTKLIB software and ground-based GPS data collected for the three Indian low latitude GPS stations Hyderabad(Latitude: 17.47°N, Longitude: 78.57°E) and Lucknow(Latitude: 26.76° N, Longitude:80.88° E).The GP positioning errors are prominent during the geomagnetic storm days Mar 16 and Mar 18 2015. A two-fold positioning error of 23 meters is noticed on Mar 17 2015 compared to pre-storm day GPS positioning error(12m). The outcome of this work would help in understanding thespace weather effects on GPS positional performance.