IRI-vTEC versus GPS-vTEC for Nigerian SCINDA GPS stations

Following the recent proliferation of dual-frequency GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver systems across the African continent, there is a growing number of papers that compare vertical Total Electron Content (vTEC) values derived from the International Reference Ionosphere (IRI) model with those obtained from the GPS receiver measurements. In this work we report an investigation of IRI-vTEC versus GPS-vTEC comparisons for three Nigerian SCINDAGPS stations (Nsukka, Ilorin, and Lagos) for which data are available in the year 2012, and present a further review of the differences/similarities observed between them. Since a major interest in this work is to use the GPS measurements to improve the predictions of the IRI model for the region, we present a detailed regression analysis of differences between the two sources in a manner that will benefit this application.