Investigation of TEC variations over the magnetic equatorial and equatorial anomaly regions of the African sector

This paper presents the annual, seasonal and diurnal variations in ionospheric TEC along the African equatorial region. The study also investigated the effects of a geomagnetic storm on ionospheric TEC values. Dual-frequency GPS derived TEC data obtained from four stations within the African equatorial region for the high solar activity year 2012 were used in this study. Annual variations showed TEC having two peaks in the equinoctial months, while minima values were observed in the summer and winter solstices. The diurnal pattern showed a pre-dawn minimum, a steady increase from about sunrise to an afternoon maximum and then a gradual fall after sunset to attain a minimum just before sunrise. Nighttime enhancements of TEC were observed mostly in the equinoctial months. There was comparably higher percentage TEC variability during nighttime than daytime and highest during equinoxes, moderate in winter and least during summer solstice. TEC was observed to exhibit a good correlation with geomagnetic storm indices.