Comprehensive Observation and Analysis of Weddell Sea Anomaly in Antarctica

Weddell sea anomaly, appeared in west Antarctica, is an ionospheric anomaly. In this paper ground-based, GPS data and altimetry satellite Jason-2 data in west Antarctica are used to extract TEC in continental and oceanic areas respectively. The advantages of ground-based GPS are to obtain TEC time series over the station. TEC results of satellite altimetry and ground-based GPS are at the same precision level. Although the time resolution of satellite altimetry is lower, the advantages of satellite altimetry are to be observed in ocean areas. The two observations are complementary, which is valuable to depict the comprehensive characteristics of WSA in west Antarctic together. In view of space, WSA appeared mainly in Bellingshausen Sea, and also covered Bellingshausen sea and the Weddell sea, as well as up to 80° S of the west Antarctic continent. In view of time, the period of the appearance is from Oct. to Mar. next year, with the characteristics of low electron density in daytime but high electron density in nighttime, and the abnormal degree become larger in high solar activity.