abstract = "Vertical Total Electron Content (vTEC) is an
ionospheric characteristic used to derive the signal
delay imposed by the ionosphere on near-vertical
trans-ionospheric links. The major aim of this paper is
to design a prediction model based on the main factors
that influence the variability of this parameter on a
diurnal, seasonal and long-term time-scale. The model
should be accurate and general (comprehensive) enough
for efficiently approximating the high variations of
vTEC. However, good approximation and generalisation
are conflicting objectives. For this reason a Genetic
Programming (GP) with Multi-objective Evolutionary
Algorithm based on Decomposition characteristics
(GP-MOEA/D) is designed and proposed for modelling vTEC
over Cyprus. Experimental results show that the
Multi-Objective GP-model, considering real vTEC
measurements obtained over a period of 11 years, has
produced a good approximation of the modelled parameter
and can be implemented as a local model to account for
the ionospheric imposed error in positioning.
Particularly, the GP-MOEA/D approach performs better
than a Single Objective Optimisation GP, a GP with
Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm-II (NSGA-II)
characteristics and the previously proposed Neural
Network-based approach in most cases.",