Volume 5, Issue 1

RESPONSE OF F2- REGION MAXIMUM ELECTRON DENSITY (NmF2/foF2) TO SOLAR ACTIVITY USING PEARSON PRODUCT MOMENT CORRELATION

Eugene Onori1, Emmanuel Somoye2, Aghogho Ogwala3, Cornelius Ogabi4, Abiola Ogungbe5, Oluwafunmilayo Ometan6, Olujimi Adejo7, Rasaq Adeniji-adele8, Kayode Oluyo9, Adesina Sode10, and Habeeb Adenle11
1Lagos State University, Ojo, Nigeria, 2Lagos State University, Ojo, Nigeria, 3Lagos State University, Ojo, Nigeria, 4Lagos State University, Ojo, Nigeria, 5Lagos State University, Ojo, Nigeria, 6Lagos State University, Ojo, Nigeria, 7Lagos State University, Ojo, Nigeria, 8Lagos State University, Ojo, Nigeria, 9Lagos State University, Ojo, Nigeria, 10Lagos State University, Ojo, Nigeria, and 11Lagos State University, Ojo, Nigeria
DOI:10.36108/jrrslasu/8102/50(0111)

Abstract


ABSTRACT Introduction: The ionosphere owes its origin primarily to ultraviolet radiation from the Sun. The ionosphere is an essential part of the Earth’s upper atmosphere. It is ionized by solar radiation and influences transionospheric radio wave propagation. Maximum electron density of the F2- layer (NmF2) is an important parameter for studying the ionosphere. The ionospheric F2-region maximum electron density (NmF2) depends strongly on solar activity, it also suffers temporal and spatial variations. Aim: The aim of this paper is to investigate the response of NmF2 to solar activity during high solar activity (HSA), moderate solar activity (MSA) and low solar activity (LSA) years using correlation analysis. Materials and Methods: The data used in this work are the hourly NmF2 values derived from foF2 data observed at Jicamarca (Lat.11.9 oS, Long.76.8 oW) and Puerto Rico (Lat.18.5 oN, Long.67.2 oW) during high solar activity HSA (2002), moderate solar activity MSA (2011) and low solar activity LSA (2006) years. The NmF2 data were evaluated using the relation in equation 1 NmF2 = 1.24 x 1010 (foF2)2 (1) Where NmF2 is in el/m3 and foF2 is in MHz. Pearson Product Moment Correlation (PPMC) was used to further analyse the NmF2 data. Results: Our results revealed two unequal NmF2 peaks. The NmF2 peaks values at Jicamarca (60 - 240; 63– 204) x 1010 el/m3 are observed to be higher in values than those at Puerto Rico (63 – 187; 57 – 164) x 1010 el/m3. The highest NmF2 peak values of 240 and 187x 1010 el/m3 occurred during March equinox at 09:00 and 14:00 hours at Jicamarca and Puerto Rico respectively during HSA year. Conclusion: Correlation analysis for the three epochs of solar activity revealed that NmF2 showed positive correlation with sunspot number with highest correlation values of 0.904 and 0.976 at Jicamarca and Puerto Rico stations respectively during MSA year.


Keywords: Maximum electron density, Sunspot, Solar Activity, and F2-Layer

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