Ionospheric time delay corrections based on the extended single layer model over low latitude region

Ionospheric delay error is considered to be one of the most prominent factors impacting the Global Navigation Satellite Systems(GNSS) positioning and navigation accuracies. Due to dispersive nature and anisotropic of the ionosphere above certain regions, the positioning accuracy is seriously affected when using a precision-limited model. In this paper, an attempt has been taken to estimate ionosphere-delays based on Planar Fit(PF) and Spherical Harmonic Function(SHF) models by applying the commonly used single layer Model(SLM) and an extended single layer model(ESLM) which has been explored sparsely over the region. The results show that ESLM of PF and SHF techniques performed better in estimating ionospheric delay compared to the existing SLM model. Although the performance of the ESLM approach is almost comparable to the SLM results during the quiet ionospheric conditions, the ESLM-PF and ESLMSHF models led to respective improvements of 4.66% and 7.14% over the classically used SLM model under the disturbed ionospheric conditions. In view of the uneven variability of equatorial/low latitude ionosphere above the Indian subcontinental region, the suitability of ESLM-PF and ESLM-SHF models has been emphasized and suggested for assessing its completeness and reliableness across other parts of the globe. The output of this work may be useful for high precession GNSS positioning through mitigating the ionospheric delays under quiet as well as varied ionospheric conditions across the low/equatorial latitude regions.