Spatial correlation of foF2 and vTEC under quiet and disturbed ionospheric conditions: A case study

The spatial variations of the ionospheric F2-layer vertical incidence critical frequency (foF2) and GPS-derived vertical total electron content (vTEC) under geomagnetically quiet and disturbed days are examined using measurements from the latitudinal and longitudinal chains of ionospheric stations and GPS receivers over the European area. Plots produced for January 2005 are used to discuss temporal structures in terms of the prevailing solar-terrestrial conditions. Then the line trends procedure has been applied to simultaneous data collected from a limited number of measuring stations during quiet monthly median ionospheric conditions as well as during the storm period of 16–23 January 2005. The procedure is explained involving an application of the least squares method to define latitudinal and longitudinal dependence of foF2 and vTEC at different locations. Examples of coefficients of determination thereby produced show that the linear regression equations are very helpful in predicting longitudinal and latitudinal vTEC and foF2 variations during the quiet as well as disturbed ionospheric conditions.