Seasonal Variations of Ionospheric Scintillations and Total Electron Content over a Terrestrial Point within Magnetic Anomaly Region
Rufus Sola Fayose *
Space Physics Research Laboratory, Department of Physics and Electronics, Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba Akoko, Nigeria.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
The dual frequency signals from the GPS satellites were recorded and analyzed to study the ionospheric variations in terms of Total Electron Content (TEC) as well as the Scintillation index (S4). Seasonal variations of Total Electron Content as well as the ionospheric scintillation activity within the Magnetic anomaly region were examined. TEC maximizes during Equinox months (March, April, September, October), and minimizes during the winter months (November, December, January, February), with intermediate values during summer months (May, June, July, August), showing a semiannual variation. The semiannual variation of TEC was asymmetry with a maximum in Spring Equinox. The average value for TEC in 2007, 2008 and 2009 were 48.34, 42.89 and 45.64 TECU respectively while the average of Scintillation index (S4) for each of the years was 0.103.
Keywords: Total electron content, semiannual variation, equinox, Ionospheric.