Validation of NeQuick 2 model over the Kenyan region through data ingestion and the model application in ionospheric studies

Abstract

NeQuick 2 is an ionospheric electron density model which provides electron density for a given location. Its output depends on solar activity expressed by 12-month running average sunspot number (R12) or solar radio flux (F10.7). To improve the model capabilities to reproduce electron density, data ingestion techniques have been implemented which replace the standard solar activity indices input with effective parameters that allow adapting a model to a certain data sets. In regions like the Sub-Saharan Africa where few observational data were available until recently, the performance of the ingested model needs some validation. This study investigates the performance of NeQuick 2 in the Kenya region, a low latitude region by assisting the model with total electron content measurement from a single GNSS station. These measurements are used to calculate effective ionization level parameters, which enable the difference between the measured and modeled TEC over the station to be less or equal to 0.5 TECU. The results show that by using computed effective parameters values as inputs in nearby stations, the model performance is greatly improved for both the low and moderate solar activity. This work has also demonstrated the capability of the model to describe spatial distribution of the total electron content in the low- latitude ionosphere.