GNSS Signal Jamming as Observed From Radio Occultation

Abstract

The jamming is found to increase significantly in recent years, and its impact is evident in Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) radio occultation (RO) measurements, such as those from COSMIC-2. This article presents an algorithm that applies the RO radiometry to detect and monitor long-term variations of GNSS jamming power from a deeply occulted height (HSL = −140 km). At these heights, the RO signal amplitude is at its noise level because the GNSS transmitter is far behind the Earth shadow. Thus, any enhanced RO amplitudes from these heights are considered as a jamming signal. The algorithm was successfully applied to two conflict zones: Mediterranean Sea and Middle East and Central Africa, where the Global Position System (GPS) jamming was frequently used by state-sponsored electronic warfare. The time series of normalized RO amplitude in these regions show a steady increase of the GPS jamming power since 2017, but a sharp decrease since the start of Russo–Ukrainian War.

Keywords

• Global navigation satellite system (GNSS)
• jamming
• radio occultation (RO)
• time series