<i>Letter to the Editor</i>: Spatial and seasonal variations of the <i>fo</i>F2 long-term trends

Abstract

Using a method suggested by the authors earlier, the long-term trends of the F2-layer critical frequency, foF2 are derived for a set of ionospheric stations with a wide latitudinal and longitudinal coverage. All the trends are found to be negative. A pronounced dependence on geomagnetic latitude is found, the trend magnitude increasing with the latter. No globe scale longitudinal effect in trends is detected. For the majority of the stations there is also a pronounced seasonal effect, the trend magnitude being higher in summer than in winter.Key words. Ionosphere (ionospheric disturbances; mid-latitude ionosphere)