Investigating the F2-layer peak height of IRI-2016 model at the equatorial station during the deepest solar activity for 70 years ago

Abstract

The paper investigates the F2-layer peak height (hmF2) of IRI-2016 model at Sao Luis on the magnetic Equator in 2019. Since the deepest solar activity occurred surprisingly in year 2019 for 70 years ago, hence, the IRI-2016 model prediction should be investigated to know the anomalous ionosphere and the deviations between the observation and IRI prediction. The hmF2 is selected to be studied in this work. Our studied results show that the observed hmF2 and the three hmF2 models of IRI-2016 prediction generally show the similar variations only about 60% during this deepest solar activity and the variations of the four kinds of studied hmF2 values show the similar trends for all seasons, except June solstice. The diurnal variation of hmF2_Giro show three peaks for December solstice months and the equinoctial months, while they show four peaks amazingly in June solstice. The hmF2_SHU is the best option that can agree reasonably well to the observed hmF2 at Sao Luis, excluding the pre-sunrise hmF2 peak for all seasons and a very deep trough in June solstice.