Temporal variations of ionospheric parameters derived from electron density profiles at high latitudes

MOSERT, M., L-A. MCKINNELL , S. MAGDALENO , C.JADUR

Bremen, Germany

Otro; XXVIII Asamblea Cientifica COSPAR 2010; 2010

The ionosphere in the high latitude zone shows similar features to those of middle latitudes but additional factors make it more irregular and variable. The ionosonde, the basic technique for studying the ionosphere, has limitations when it is used at high latitudes avoiding to get a complete information from the ionograms. However the advent of moder sounders permits to produce better ionograms and to gather more information on the ionosphere. This study presents the diurnal and seasonal variations of ionospheric parameters derived from electron density profiles obtained at high latitudes for different solar activity conditions. The day- to- day variability is also examined.  The database includes hourly values obtained at selected stations of the Northern and Southern hemispheres. The parameters analyzed are: the F2 peak parameters (foF2 and hmF2), the scale height at the F2 layer (Hm), the integrated total electron content (ITEC) and the equivalent slab thickness (EST).The results presented can be used to extract some properties of the electron density profiles at high latitudes in order to improve the IRI model  for this latitudinal region.