A statistical study of ionospheric profile parameters derived from Millstone Hill incoherent scatter radar measurements

Abstract

Diurnal, seasonal, and solar activity variations of the bottomside electron density profile parameters B0 and B1, representing the F2 layer thickness and shape, are studied using a large incoherent scatter radar dataset for Millstone Hill covering the period 1976-2002. These results are compared with the latest IRI model. Our statistical study is characterized by morning and afternoon falls in the diurnal variation of B0 for seasons other than summer and a ∼15% change in B1 over a solar cycle, features not fully well represented by the standard IRI model. The standard IRI B1, however, is very close to observations in terms of the diurnal variation. Copyright 2004 by the American Geophysical Union.