The Response of the Equatorial Ionosphere over Nigeria to a Geomagnetic Storm Event
Loading...
Date
2021
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Geomagnetism and Aeronomy, Pleiades Publishing, Ltd.,
Abstract
Abstract—The total electron content (TEC) data obtained from the ground-based GPS receiver stations of
the Nigerian GNSS network of stations (NIGNET) have been used in this study to analyse the response of
equatorial and low-latitude ionosphere to strong geomagnetic storms that occurred on October 25, 2011. The
stations and their respective geomagnetic latitudes are Lagos (−3.03°), Yola (−1.32°) and Birnin Kebbi
(0.72°). The storm caused enhancements in TEC (positive storm effect) in comparison with the quiet condition’s
TEC across all the stations during both the main and the recovery phases. During the storm of October
25, recorded maximum enhancements in TEC were 181.86%, 142.34% and 181.24% in Kebbi, Yola and Lagos
respectively.The magnitude of the ionospheric irregularities was higher at the night (October 25) of the main
phase of the geomagnetic storm than the night (October 24) before the storm onset.
Description
Keywords
Geomagnetic storm, Equatorial ionosphere, Ionospheric TEC, Latitudinal TEC variability, Geomagnetic disturbances, Seasonal variability