TITLE:
Contribution of the International Reference Ionosphere-2016 Model in the Evidence of the Winter Anomaly
AUTHORS:
Moustapha Konaté, Raoul Ilboudo, Kadidia Nonlo Drabo, Emmanuel Nanéma, Frédéric Ouattara
KEYWORDS:
Winter Anomaly, IRI, hmF2, Quiet Day, Solar Cycle Phases
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Applied Sciences,
Vol.12 No.11,
November
7,
2022
ABSTRACT: This study is a contribution to the estimation of
the winter anomaly in the F2 layer of the ionosphere at low latitudes. The aim
is to study the variability of the virtual height (hmF2) of the F2 region of
the ionosphere through the predictions of the latest International Reference
Ionosphere model (IRI-2016). The present work allows analyzing the temporal
evolution of hmF2 according to the different phases of three (3) solar cycles
during the quiet geomagnetic activity to
estimate the seasonal anomaly at the Ouagadougou station. The analysis of the seasonal profiles shows that the
variability of hmF2 is: 1) strongly linked to the solar cycle activity,
2) dependent on the season and 3) variable from one cycle to the next for the
same phase. It appears that hmF2 increases during the ascending phase to reach
its maximum value at the phase maximum. During the descending phase, it
decreases until the phase minimum where it finds its minimum value. The
difference between winter and summer on the hmF2 values for each phase of the
cycle is obtained at the phase minimum and is estimated to be at least 16 km.
In low latitudes, solar irradiation is greater in summer than in winter. From
this study, hmF2 values are larger in winter compared to summer indicating an
anomaly in the virtual height of the F2 layer of the ionosphere through the
predictions of IRI-2016 at the Ouagadougou station.