Description of the Main Ionospheric Trough by the SM-MIT Model. European Longitudinal Sector

Abstract

Due to the selection of exsisting ionospheric models for incorporation into the created System of Ionospheric Monotoring and Prediction of the Russian Federation, the model of the main ionospheric trough (SM-MIT) is tested with the data from ground-based ionospheric observations in the European longitudinal sector. It is shown that the SM-MIT model does not give an increase in accuracy in comparison to the foF2 monthly median upon a description of the equatorial wall of the MIT. The model describes the foF2 values in the MIT minimum with higher accuracy than the foF2 monthly median or the median IRI model; however, at the same time, the deviations of the model foF2 values from the observed values are high enough: 20–30%. In the MIT minimum, the decrease in the model foF2 values relative to the median values is on average only ~10%, which is substantially less than the observed depth of MIT in the evening sector. The verification results have shown that the available SM-MIT model must be completed for practical use.