Seasonal Variability of hmF2 in Low Latitudes using IRI

Abstract The solar activity has an impact on the terrestrial environment and eventually on the upper atmosphere of the Earth, the ionosphere being a part of the latter where many atoms and molecules are strongly ionized. This layer contributes to the protection of the terrestrial environment against solar radiation. Its F2 region is the seat of the reflections of the electromagnetic waves whose most current use is that of the telecommunications. The quality of communications is sensitive to the situation of this height. This study deals with the knowledge of the long-term variation of the virtual height of the ionosphere in the evaluation of the climatic evolution in low latitude in the African sector. The aim is to present the variability of the virtual height (hmF2) of the so-called F2 layer at the Ouagadougou station in West Africa. The main objective is to study the temporal evolution of hmF2 of the quietest day of the month characteristic of each season during the solar cycles 21, 22 and 23 using the International Reference Ionosphere (IRI) model in its 2016 version. The present work gives a detailed description and allows to illustrate the hmF2 pattern per season as a function of cycle and cycle phase during the quiet geomagnetic activity. It results from this work a significant decrease on the seasonal average values of hmF2 at the phase maximum, between the preceding and following solar cycle by the IRI model.