Dst Index as a Potential Indicator of Approaching GNSS Perfomance Deterioration

Space weather disturbances cause considerable effects on GNSS performance and operation, affecting the society and economy due to the growing reliance on GNSS, especially in densely populated mid-latitudes. Recent studies hypothesised potential utilisation of the Disturbance storm-time (Dst) index for indication of the approaching ionospheric storm, and possible deterioration of the GNSS positioning performance. We challenged the hypothesis on the case of the Halloween 2003 event in an attempt to confirm the direct correlation between the Dst index dynamics and the GPS positioning performance in mid-latitude Mediterranean area. Our results provide no evidence of the direct Dst-GNSS performance correlation for the observed event