Day-to-Day Variability of Low Latitude F-Region Ionosphere During Low Solar Activity

This paper presents an analysis of the F-region variability of the ionospheric parameters [foF2and M(3000)F2] at three low latitude stations during low solar activity periods from January 2006 to December 2010. The diurnal, seasonal and day-to-day characteristics of theseionospheric F-region parameters have been studied in detail. With the use of partial correlation analysis we have computed the correlation between the variation of these parameters and other factors such as the solar radio flux 10.7cm (F10.7)and the geomagnetic AP index. It has been observed that the magnitude of the variability of propagation parameter M(3000)F2aresmoother and smaller than in that case of foF2. It is also observed that for both parameters there are no remarkable changes in day-to-day variability with geomagnetic activity during low solar activity.