written by Mary Dusabe

The New Observatory for Real-Time Ionospheric Sounding over Kenya (NORISK) became operational in July 2023, enhancing Kenya’s capacity to study and predict space weather events. It includes an Advanced Ionospheric Sounding (AIS) ionosonde and a collocated GNSS Ionospheric Scintillation Monitor Receiver (ISMR), both crucial for real-time ionospheric monitoring. The NORISK project is located at the Luigi Broglio Malindi Space Center, a facility that is jointly managed by the Italian Space Agency and the Kenya Space Agency. This project has significantly contributed to the Kenya Space Agency’s (KSA) efforts towards space weather monitoring by strengthening existing space weather infrastructure. Given that Kenya is located in the low latitude region, which experiences high ionospheric variability, this monitoring is very crucial for mitigating ionospheric effects on space-dependent technological systems. Data from the NORISK project is freely available to the general public via the electronic Space Weather upper atmosphere (eSWua) website, accessible here
KSA utilises NORISK instruments alongside other space weather monitoring infrastructure in Kenya to develop algorithms for analysing and monitoring ionospheric effects on trans-ionospheric radio signals. These signals support various essential technologies such as, GNSS applications, HF communication, satellite communications, and radar systems.

The NORISK ISMR receiver, along with other additional GNSS receivers across Kenya, are utilized to monitor ionospheric scintillation by assessing amplitude and phase variations in GNSS signals.