Large-scale ionospheric irregularities occurrence at Ilorin, Nigeria

Abstract

Ionospheric irregularities are a regular occurrence at the equatorial latitude during the postsunset 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 transionospheric signals passing through these irregularities. We have investigated large-scale ionospheric irregularity occurrence at Ilorin, Nigeria (latitude = 8.48°N, longitude = 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 total electron content (rate of change) derived from 30 s receiver-independent exchange data obtained using a dual frequency GPS receiver (i.e., NovAtel GPStation-2). The study covers a period of 4 years (2009–2012). 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 irregularity level around the peaks seems to increase with solar activity. Although the study covered a period of 4 years, the period could be regarded as the increasing phase of the solar cycle 24.