Summary
During the summer season 1997–1998 a GPS Ionospheric Scintillation Monitor (GISM) was installed at Casey station, Antarctica, 66.28°S, 110.24°E, -80.38 invariant latitude. This system is capable of tracking up to 11 GPS satellites at the L1 frequency of 1575.42 MHz. The purpose of the GISM receiver is to automatically record scintillation parameters of amplitude and phase at a 50 Hz rate averaged over 60 s. These measurements will be used to map scintillation activity associated with the polar cusp, auroral oval and other ionospheric features such as patches. In conjunction with scintillation measurements, 1998 Total Electron Content (TEC) data were recorded by the Australian Surveying and Land Information Group (AUSLIG), using the L-band signals from GPS satellites for the Antarctic stations Casey, Davis, Mawson, and the sub-antarctic station Macquarie Island. From these data, 3–5 days are being selected for each month for Casey centered on the Regular World Days (RWD). These results are used to investigate the diurnal and seasonal variations in TEC, and other features such as patch occurrences.