Prediction of total electron content using the international Reference Ionosphere

Abstract

Comparisons are presented between the values of total electron content (TEC) observed at 31°S and those predicted using the Australian Ionospheric Prediction Service's version of the International Reference Ionosphere. Although discrepancies sometimes exceed 30% they are usually less than 20%. The predicted TEC values tend to be too low in daytime summer, too high in daytime winter, and have an incorrect diurnal variation during winter days. Although the predicted TEC was sensitive to the errors in the foF2 values used, the major discrepancies remained.