The variability of space weather can best be captured using total electron content (TEC), which corresponds to total number of electrons on a ray path. The dual‐frequency ground based GPS receivers provide a cost‐effective means for monitoring TEC. Computation of TEC for a single GPS station is a challenge due to various unknowns and ambiguities such as inter‐frequency receiver bias and satellite bias, choice of mapping function, and peak height of ionosphere for ionospheric piercing point. In this study, IONOLAB group introduces a robust, automatic, online computation routine near‐real time TEC, IONOLAB‐TEC, for IGS and/or EUREF stations from www.ionolab.org. The user can choose online one station or multiple stations, date or dates for the computation. The IONOLAB‐TEC values can be compared with TEC estimates from IGS analysis centers. The output can be obtained either in graphical form, or IONOLAB‐TEC estimates can be provided in an excel file. The service is easy to use with a graphical user interface. This unique and original space weather application is provided online, and IONOLAB‐TEC estimates are downloaded automatically to the user defined directories under user defined filenames.

The Ionospheric Weather Assessment and Forecast (IWAF) system is a computer software package designed to assess and predict the world-wide representation of 3-D electron density profiles from the Global Ionospheric Maps of Total Electron Content (GIM-TEC). The unique system products include daily-hourly numerical global maps of the F2 layer critical frequency (foF2) and the peak height (hmF2) generated with the International Reference Ionosphere extended to the plasmasphere, IRI-Plas, upgraded by importing the daily-hourly GIM-TEC as a new model driving parameter. Since GIM-TEC maps are provided with 1- or 2-days latency, the global maps forecast for 1 day and 2 days ahead are derived using an harmonic analysis applied to the temporal changes of TEC, foF2 and hmF2 at 5112 grid points of a map encapsulated in IONEX format (-87.5°:2.5°:87.5°N in latitude, -180°:5°:180°E in longitude). The system provides online the ionospheric disturbance warnings in the global W-index map establishing categories of the ionospheric weather from the quiet state (W=±1) to intense storm (W=±4) according to the thresholds set for instant TEC perturbations regarding quiet reference median for the preceding 7 days. The accuracy of IWAF system predictions of TEC, foF2 and hmF2 maps is superior to the standard persistence model with prediction equal to the most recent ‘true’ map. The paper presents outcomes of the new service expressed by the global ionospheric foF2, hmF2 and W-index maps demonstrating the process of origin and propagation of positive and negative ionosphere disturbances in space and time and their forecast under different scenarios.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft