MAGNETIC CONTROL ON THE VARIATIONS OF THE CRITICAL FREQUENCY OF THE F2 LAYER OF THE IONOSPHERE

Abstract

The paper discusses the comparative influence of the true magnetic and smooth geomagnetic latitudes on the diurnal and latitudinal variations of the critical frequency of the F2 layer (f0F2) at low latitudes. The diurnal variations of f0F2 are shown to differ considerably at stations having the same geomagnetic latitude, but the discrepancies disappear when the true magnetic latitude is taken into consideration. The latitudinal variation of noon values of f0F2 is also shown to present discrepancies for low latitude stations in the geomagnetic latitudes plot, but on true magnetic latitude plots the points fall regularly along a smooth curve.