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Ionospheric-equivalent slab-thickness and peak height at the F2 region of equatorial latitude over West Africa.
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  • Olumide, Olayinka Odeyemi,
  • Jacob, Olusegun Adeniyi,
  • Elijah, Oyedola Oyeyemi,
  • Adekola, Olajide Adewale,
  • Busola Olugbon,
  • Oluwadare, John Esholomo,
  • Andrew, Oke-Ovie Akala,
  • Olayinka, A Olawepo
Olumide, Olayinka Odeyemi
University of Lagos, Nigeria

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Jacob, Olusegun Adeniyi
Landmark University
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Elijah, Oyedola Oyeyemi
University of Lagos
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Adekola, Olajide Adewale
University of Lagos
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Busola Olugbon
University of Lagos
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Oluwadare, John Esholomo
Ajayi Crowhter University
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Andrew, Oke-Ovie Akala
University of Lagos
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Olayinka, A Olawepo
Department of Physics, University of Ilorin
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Abstract

At the equatorial latitude of a West African station (8.50N, 4.68E), we have examined the slab-thickness (τ) relative to peak electron density height (hmF2) at F2 layer, employing Digisonde Portable Sounder τ (DPS-τ) and Global Positioning System τ (GPS-τ) during the low solar activity year 2010. Our observation revealed maximum and minimum τ during the daytime and nighttime respectively, which may indicate maximum and minimum scale height in τ through daytime and nighttime, respectively. The discrepancies between the together reversed signatures of DPS-τ and GPS-τ around 0100 - 0600 LT in June could indicate the failure to incorporate a reflection of the composition changes in the topside-DPS model. We have reported the pre-sunrise and post-noon peaks in GPS-τ and hmF2, which are contributions of plasmaspheric TEC and pre-reversal enhancement (PRE) velocity, respectively. Around 1100 - 1700 LT, the stability in hmF2 show that the interaction of neutral wind and eastward electric field could be employed to predict the τ. We also reported that the pre-sunrise increase in GPS-τ is not an indication of PRE velocity as observed during the nighttime. The relationship between τ and hmF2 gives a high correlation coefficient (CC), but CC during the daytime is higher than the nighttime values which suggest the constant diffusion state of plasmasphere during the daytime whereas the nighttime is a function of the plasmaspheric flow of electron content and PRE velocity. We compared the experimental hmF2 with IRI-2016 and found that the IRI-2016 model is incapable of capturing the post-sunset and pre-sunrise increases.