ScintPi 2.0: Description and first results

Abstract:

ScintPi is an extremely low-cost, easy-to-build, easy-to-deploy ionospheric scintillation monitor proposed by Rodrigues and Moraes (2019). The original version of ScintPi uses a Raspberry Pi and a GPS receiver to monitor L-Band scintillation.

ScintPi has been proposed to be used as a small sensor for distributed deployment addressing science questions related to ionospheric irregularities. ScintPi can also be used for educational projects and citizen science initiatives. The system was deployed in Brazil and operated continuously for over one year. While the system cannot replace a commercial scintillation monitor, it is capable of providing important information about ionospheric irregularities causing scintillation.

Rodrigues and Moraes (2019) also pointed out a few limitations associated with the first version of ScintPi. Here, we will present and discuss improvements made to the system that allowed us to overcome some of these limitations as well as to create new observational opportunities using signals of multiple GNSS constellations. Examples of observations are presented, and examples of applications are discussed.