Geodesy
Seyyed Reza Ghaffari-Razin; Navid Hooshangi; Behzad Voosoghi
Abstract
Extended AbstractIntroduction The ionosphere extends from an altitude of 80 to more than 1000 km above the earth. Due to its electrical properties, this layer of the atmosphere has very important and fundamental effects on the electromagnetic waves passing through it. A parameter that can be used to ...
Read More
Extended AbstractIntroduction The ionosphere extends from an altitude of 80 to more than 1000 km above the earth. Due to its electrical properties, this layer of the atmosphere has very important and fundamental effects on the electromagnetic waves passing through it. A parameter that can be used to study the ionosphere is the total electron content (TEC). This parameter is the sum of free electrons in a cylinder with a cross section of one square meter between the satellite and the receiver on the ground. The unit of TEC is electron per square meter (ele/m2). The TEC in the vertical direction is called VTEC. Usually, TEC is expressed in terms of TECU, which is equal to 1016 ele/m2.Different methods have been developed to model the TEC. The simplest and most practical method is to use observations of two-frequency receivers. If there is a proper station distribution, it is possible to obtain accurate TEC and model the ionosphere. The main innovation of this paper is in the long-term prediction of TEC in the period of severe solar activity, as well as the modeling of the ionosphere time series with the long-short term memory (LSTM) neural network model in the Iranian region. This model is used for the first time in Iran to model and predict the time series of the ionosphere. To check the capability of the new model in prediction of TEC in the conditions of severe solar activity, observations from 2007 to 2016 are used for training and the TEC in 2017 is predicted. All the observations are related to the Tehran GPS station, which is one of the stations of the IGS network. To evaluate the accuracy of the model presented in this paper, statistical indicators of relative error, correlation coefficient and root mean square error (RMSE) are used. Materials and MethodsLong-short term memory modelLong short-term memory (LSTM) neural network is a special type of recurrent neural network (RNN). RNN is a type of neural network that has internal memory; in other words, this network is a normal neural network that has a loop in its structure through which the output of the previous step, along with the new input, is entered into the network at each step. This loop helps the network to have the previous information along with the new information and can calculate the desired output based on this information’s. One of the problems of RNNs is the vanishing of the gradient when learning from long-term sequences, which reduces the ability to learn in the algorithm. LSTM networks are actually a type of RNNs that have had a change in their block (RNN Unit). This change makes LSTM recurrent neural networks able to manage long-term memory and not have the problem of gradient vanishing. Results and DiscussionAfter the training step, using the trained models, the VTEC value for 2017 has been estimated and compared with the VTEC values obtained from GPS as a reference observation, GIM and NeQuick models. For the test step, the parameters of correlation coefficient, RMSE and relative error were calculated and presented in table (1). It should be noted that the average of all days of 2017 is showed in this table. Also, VTEC values obtained from GPS are considered as reference observations in this table.Table 1. Statistical values of correlation coefficient, RMSE and relative error in the test step of 2017 for GRNN, LSTM, GIM and NeQuick models.The correlation coefficient value of LSTM model is higher than other models. Also, the values of RMSE and relative error of LSTM model are lower than other models. This model has the ability to show the ionosphere time series variations with an accuracy of about 87%. ConclusionAnalysis of the results of the correlation coefficient in 2017 for LSTM, GRNN, NeQuick and GIM models compared to the GPS-TEC was obtained as 0.84, 0.72, 0.77 and 0.71, respectively. The average annual relative error for these four models was calculated as 16.98%, 25.69%, 29.89% and 51.05% respectively. The results of the analysis showed that in the conditions of severe and quiet solar and geomagnetic activities, the accuracy and precision of the LSTM model is higher than the other models evaluated in this paper. The analysis of the coordinate components of Tehran station with PPP method showed that by using the model proposed in this paper, an improvement of about 5.19 to 56.23 mm can be seen in the coordinates of the station compared to other models.
Geodesy
Lida Koshki; Behzad Voosoghi; Seyyed Reza Ghaffari-Razin
Abstract
Extended Abstract IntroductionEarthquake every year in the world, especially in a seismic country like Iran, causes huge human and financial losses. Earthquake prediction has become one of the great challenges of scientists in recent decades. One of the new methods is the evaluation of anomalies ...
Read More
Extended Abstract IntroductionEarthquake every year in the world, especially in a seismic country like Iran, causes huge human and financial losses. Earthquake prediction has become one of the great challenges of scientists in recent decades. One of the new methods is the evaluation of anomalies in the ionospheric parameters before the earthquake. The parameter investigated in this method is the total electron content (TEC). The study areas in this paper are the Ahar-Varzaghan earthquake with a magnitude of 6.5 and 6.3, the Sarpol Zahab earthquake with a magnitude of 6.3. In the Ahar-Varzaghan earthquake, the observations of 6 GPS stations and in the Sarpol Zahab earthquake, the observations of 5 GPS stations of the IGS network were used to calculate the ionosphere TEC. Short time Fourier transform (STFT) along with statistical parameters of mean and standard deviation have been used to detect of ionosphere time series anomalies. Also, geomagnetic and weather indicators KP, Dst, F10.7, Vsw (plasma velocity), Ey (magnetic field) and IMFBz (interplanetary magnetic field) have been investigated and analyzed to know the conditions of the days before the earthquake.Materials & Methods In recent years, the spectral analysis of ionospheric anomalies using the STFT method and its application in earthquake forecasting has become popular. The research results show that spectral methods can be a useful and reliable tool in further analysis, and the STFT method can be evaluated as a successful method for detecting ionosphere anomalies, which is also compatible with classical methods. Also, STFT is a powerful tool for processing a time series without the need for average and median values, so it can be used for other studies such as navigation, geophysics, geology and climatology. STFT is used as a modified version of the classical Fourier transform to obtain the frequency information of a signal in the time domain. This method provides the analysis of a small part of the signal at a certain time through windowing the signal. In STFT, the signal with a constant time-frequency resolution and with the same window length in all frequencies is divided into smaller parts, Fourier transform is applied on it and finally the output will be presented in two time-frequency dimensions. As a result, it is possible to obtain information about when and with what frequency each signal occurred.Results & Discussion In the Sarpol Zahab earthquake and in both classic and STFT methods, anomalies were observed on 309, 314 and 323 DOY, before the earthquake. The amount of these anomalies in the ionosphere time series was in the 0.058 to 5.44 TECU. The parameters related to solar and geomagnetic activities were also investigated in the days before and after the earthquake. Considering that the solar and geomagnetic activities (as an important factor in creating anomalies in the ionosphere time series) were calm in the days before the earthquake, these detected anomalies can be attributed to the earthquake. However, in the Ahar-Varzaghan earthquake and using both methods, in 5 to 15 days before the earthquake, anomalies of about 0.13 to 1.4 TECU were observed. In the days before the Ahar-Varzaghan earthquake, there were almost undisturbed conditions on most days, and therefore it cannot be said with certainty that the observed anomalies are completely related to the earthquake. The results of this paper showed that the STFT method is a powerful tool for spectral analysis without the need for values such as average or median. This feature of STFT is its strength compared to classical methods; because independence from these values minimizes the sources of error related to them (abnormalities, sudden variations in the ionosphere such as annual, semi-annual and seasonal variations). It is important to mention that the STFT method is more accurate in calm solar and geomagnetic conditions and provides high accuracy results.ConclusionThe results show that for the Ahar-Varzaghan earthquake, there are anomalies on the 11, 12, 13 and 5 days before the earthquake. But for the Sarpol Zahab earthquake, anomalies can be seen 6, 7, 13 and 21 days before the earthquake. The analyzes of this paper show that if all the geomagnetic and weather parameters before the earthquake are investigated, the existing anomalies can be directly observed by analyzing the time series of the ionosphere with the STFT method. It is important that on days when geomagnetic conditions and calm weather are not prevailing, the occurrence of earthquake cannot be considered as the cause of anomalies detected in the ionosphere time series.
Mir Reza Ghaffari Razin; Behzad Vosooghi
Abstract
Extended Abstract Introduction Development of reliable models for estimation and prediction of changes inTotal Electron Content (TEC) of the ionosphere is still considered to be a real challenge for geodesists and geophysicists. This ispartly due to the nonlinear behavior of the physical and geophysical ...
Read More
Extended Abstract Introduction Development of reliable models for estimation and prediction of changes inTotal Electron Content (TEC) of the ionosphere is still considered to be a real challenge for geodesists and geophysicists. This ispartly due to the nonlinear behavior of the physical and geophysical parameters affecting the TEC variations, as well as the difficulty in accurate measurement of some of these parameters. Due to its specific nature, as well as its physical and geophysical properties, quantity of TEC hasspatio-temporal variations, which can be attributable to daily, and seasonal variations, various anomalies, or periods of solar activity. Total Electron Content is the quantity which can be used to study ionospheric activities, as well as the spatio-temporal variations in electron density of this layer. In fact, TEC is the total number of free electrons in the path between the satellite and the receiver in a one square meter column. The measurement unit of TEC is TECU, which is equivalent to 1016electrons/m2. Due to inappropriate spatial distribution of GPS receivers and their limited number, as well as observationaldiscontinuity in the time domain, TEC values and electron density obtained from theGPS measurements will be spatiallyand temporallyconstrained. In order to calculate TEC value in areas lacking observation or appropriatestation distribution, TEC value obtained from GPS measurements must be interpolated or extrapolated in a suitable manner. Materials and Methods By combining wavelet localization features with standard neural networks, Wavelet Neural Networks (WNN) have emerged as a new mathematical method for modeling and predicting the behavior of different phenomena.In WNNs, the output parameter is usually calculated by the following equation: (1) wherex is the inputobservations vector, is a the multi-variablewavelet whichcan be calculated by the tensor productof m (basic function of single variable wavelets), ë is the number of neurons in the hiddenlayer, and ù shows the network weight. Unlike the Backpropagation (BP) algorithm, PSO is a global search algorithm that can optimize the initial weights and introduce the appropriate structure for the network. Equations used in this algorithm are as follows: (2) (3) In which, shows the initial weight, represents the particle’s velocity i in repetition t, c1 and c2, indicate the particle acceleration coefficients, is the current position of particle i in repetition t and gbest represents the best particle position. The present study took advantage of a smoothing algorithm to determine STEC observations. Observed STEC values are as follows: (4) To obtain TEC value along the zenith, the following mapping function can be used: (5) Which we will have: (6) Elev. in relation (6) is the satellite’s elevation angle. Results and Discussion Observations of 37 Iranian GeodynamicNetworkson 2012.08.11 (DAY 224) were used to evaluate the efficiency of WNN and PSO training algorithm in modeling and predictingspatio-temporal variations of TEC in Iran. Of the 37 stations, 5 were used as test stations, 2 were used to evaluate the wavelet neural network, and the rest were used to train the network. Four different combinations of input observations are examined in this paper. Number of input observations selected from the Iranian Permanent Geodynamic Network(IPGN) to train the WNN using PSO algorithm was25, 20, 15 and 10, respectively.Table 1 shows the characteristics of different combinations evaluated in this paper. Table 1. Characteristics of the observations used in the different combinationsevaluated To evaluate the accuracy of the results obtained from IRI and WNN model, all results were compared with TEC observations obtained from GPS. Table 2 shows the correlation coefficient for different scenarios. Table 2. correlation coefficient for different scenarios According to Table (2), the first scenario in WNN method with GPS hasthe highest correlation coefficient. Even when the number of observations in the databasedecreases in the third scenario, theWNN method still has a higher correlation coefficient compared to the IRI2012 model. In the fourth scenario, the correlation coefficient for WNN method is reduced to some degree. The average relative and absolute error values at the 5 test stations were calculated for the four different scenarios and presented in Table3. Table 3. Comparison of mean relative error and absolute error values at 5 test stations for four different scenarios. Statistical analysis of relative and absolute error showssuperiority of WNN method in TEC modeling as compared to the IRI2012. Conclusion To model total electron content of the ionosphere, 4 combinations of observations were evaluated. 25, 20, 15 and 10 stations were used to train the wavelet neural network. 300, 240, 180, and 120 observations(latitude and longitude, observation time)were considered in the database, respectively.Results of the analysis indicated that with a decrease in the number of observations in the database, the absolute and relative error increase, while correlation coefficient decreases. This decrease was not evident before 180 observations, but relative and absolute errorreached up to twice their values with 120 observations. It should be noted that even with 120 observations (10 stations for training), results of the wavelet neural network model are more accurate than the results of the IRI2012 model.
seyyede samira jafari pour; Nazila Mohammadi
Abstract
Extended Abstract
Introduction
Ionosphere is a region of ionized plasma that extends at an altitude of 80 to 1,200 km above the earth's surface. The ionosphere consists of free electrons and ions formed during the ionization process. Total electron content (TEC) in the ionosphere is reported in TECU ...
Read More
Extended Abstract
Introduction
Ionosphere is a region of ionized plasma that extends at an altitude of 80 to 1,200 km above the earth's surface. The ionosphere consists of free electrons and ions formed during the ionization process. Total electron content (TEC) in the ionosphere is reported in TECU units. Each TECU is equivalent to 1016 electron units per square meter. Ionosphere is highly sensitive to any atmospheric turbulence, and thus is considered to be an atmospheric event sensor. The present study seeks to investigate the effect of space and temperature on the amount of total ionospheric electron content in order to accurately estimate TEC value. To reach this aim, variations in latitude and longitude are decomposed for a given period of time using the process of transforming wavelet to frequency component and modeled using a variety of artificial neural networks.
Materials and Methods
Here, after separating the location and temperature parameters in each region, ionospheric electron density is estimated for each spatial and temperature parameter separately and also as a combination using the capabilities of artificial neural networks and wavelet transform. TEC value for each location and temperature parameter is extracted from the ionospheric maps and then used as input data in the suggested method. These maps show ionospheric electron content. The standard format of ionospheric maps, which contains TEC values is called IONEX. These files are received from the website of Iranian National Mapping Agency.
Results and discussion
In general, IONEX is divided into three different parts: description, TEC maps, and standard deviations of maps. TEC values are presented in a regular network. Each IONEX file includes 25 maps, the last of which is the first map of the next day. As mentioned before, TEC value gives us a better understanding of ionospheric behavior. Availability of enough data and time coverage are two important factors in understanding a phenomenon and proper evaluation of its behavior.
Conclusion
As results of artificial neural networks indicate, MLP generally has lower RMSE values. Therefore, it gives a more accurate estimation of TEC, compared to other artificial neural networks. Also compared to artificial neural networks, a combination of artificial neural networks and wavelet shows better results. The best condition of all three methods shows that compared to other methods, temperature variations give us a better estimation of TEC in ionosphere.
Monireh Shamshiri; Mahdi Akhondzadeh Hanzaei
Abstract
Discussion about earthquake to reduce its casualties and damages is very important, especially in a seismic area like Iran where the occurrence of this natural phenomenon is seen annually. Anomaly detection prior to earthquake plays an important role in earthquake prediction. Ionosphere changes which ...
Read More
Discussion about earthquake to reduce its casualties and damages is very important, especially in a seismic area like Iran where the occurrence of this natural phenomenon is seen annually. Anomaly detection prior to earthquake plays an important role in earthquake prediction. Ionosphere changes which are recognizable by remote measurements (such as using Global Positioning System) are known as earthquake ionospheric precursors. In this study, two data sets from the ionospheric Total Electron Content (TEC) derived from the GPS data processing by Bernese software were used for two studies, Ahar earthquake, East Azerbaijan (2012/08/11) and Kaki earthquake,Bushehr (2013/4/9), and the results were compared with data obtained from the global stations. Because of the nonlinear behavior of TEC changes, in order to predict and detect its changes, integration of neural network (using multilayer Perceptron (MLP)) with particle swarm optimization algorithm (PSO) was used. Particle Swarm Optimization algorithm with a performance based on the population can be effective in improving estimatedweight by artificial neural network. By analyzing the causes of ionospheric anomalies including the geomagnetic fields and solar activities and their removal from the processes, the results indicate that some of this anomalies caused by the earthquake and using intelligent algorithms were able to have appropriate efficiency for the prediction of nonlinear time series. The output resulted from the integration of artificial neural network and PSO shows that both positive and negative anomalies occur. The anomalies before earthquakes often occur close to the epicenter of the earthquake and are visible 3 days before the Ahar earthquake and 2 to 6 days before the Kaki earthquake are.