Comparative Study of foF2 during Quiet Geomagnetic Activity with URSI and CCIR Predictions during the Phase Minimum of Solar Cycle 22

This paper investigates the performance of the latest International Reference Ionosphere model to predict the critical frequency at low latitudes in the African region. The variability of the critical frequency of the F2 layer of the ionosphere (foF2) is studied for the different seasons of the phase minimum of solar cycle 22 during quiet geomagnetic activity at the Ouagadougou station. The data used are those provided by the ionosonde and the predictions of the two subprograms: International Radio Consultative Committee (CCIR) and International Radio-Scientific Union (URSI) of the 2016 version of the International Reference Ionosphere model. This study shows that, in general, URSI and CCIR of the IRI-2016 model are able to reproduce fairly well the variability of the critical frequency of the F2 layer of the ionosphere at low latitudes during the phase minimum at the Ouagadougou station. However, the model shows an almost homogeneous overestimation of the foF2 during the four seasons studied. The good response is observed between 0700 TL and 1900 TL for the available data. The agreement between the subroutine responses and the observed results is between reasonable and poor. The best match state response is obtained in winter with the CCIR subroutine. These results show that there is a need to improve both CCIR and URSI subroutines of the IRI-2016 model in low latitudes in the African region.