Publication Date:
2014-04-15
Description:
Ionospheric irregularities are a regular occurrence at the equatorial latitude during the post sunset hours especially during high solar activity. These irregularities could pose serious challenges to satellite-based navigation and positioning applications by causing fading and degradation of trans-ionospheric signals passing through these irregularities. We have investigated large-scale ionospheric irregularities occurrence at Ilorin, Nigeria (Lat. = 8.48 °N, Long. = 4.67 °W, Dip = 4.1 °S), a station located within the equatorial region in the African sector. The index used in this study is the rate of change of TEC (ROT) derived from 30 seconds RINEX data obtained using a dual frequency GPS receiver (i.e. NovAtel GPStation-2). The study covers a period of four years (2009 to 2012). The results obtained showed that large-scale irregularities occur between March and November and are more pronounced between 1900 LT and 2400 LT. The irregularities were observed to show two peaks; one in March and the other in September. Solar activity trend was also observed. The irregularities level around the peaks seems to increase with solar activity. Although the study covered a period of four years, the period could be regarded as the increasing phase of the solar cycle 24.
Print ISSN:
1539-4964
Electronic ISSN:
1542-7390
Topics:
Geosciences
,
Physics
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