Variability of foF2 in the African equatorial ionosphere

This paper presents the impact of diurnal, seasonal and solar activity effects on the variability of ionospheric foF2 in the African equatorial latitude. Three African ionospheric stations; Dakar (14.8 degrees N, 17.4 degrees W, dip: 11.4 degrees N), Ouagadougou (12.4 degrees N, 1.5 degrees W, dip: 2.8 degrees N) and Djibouti (11.5 degrees N, 42.8 degrees E, dip: 7.2 degrees N) were considered for the investigation. The overall aim is to provide African inputs that will be of assistance at improving existing forecasting models. The diurnal analysis revealed that the ionospheric critical frequency (foF2) is more susceptible to variability during the night-time than the day-time, with two peaks in the range; 18-38% during post-sunset hours and 35 55% during post-midnight hours. The seasonal and solar activity analyses showed a post-sunset September Equinox maximum and June Solstice maximum of foF2 variability in all the stations for all seasons. At all the stations, foF2 variability was high for low solar activity year. Overall, we concluded that equatorial foF2 variability increases with decreasing solar activity during night-time. (C) 2010 COSPAR. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.