A Comparison of Plasma Properties in the Ionosphere over Baghdad: The Daily and Seasonal during 2020-2022

Abstract

This paper studies the effect of electron temperatures and densities on the F layer of the ionosphere during the seasons (winter, spring, summer, fall) of the first years of solar cycle 25 (2020-2022) in the sky of Baghdad, the capital (44.3⁰ East, 33.3⁰ North). The temperature and density data were taken from (IRI-2020) for the height (150-500) km with an increment of 50 km. The study shows that the values of electron temperature  (T_e), Debye length λ_De, and the number of charged particles enclosed within a Debye shielding region 〖(N〗_D) in 2020 were higher than in 2022. Whereas the electron density (n_e) and plasma frequency  (f_pe) in 2020 were lower than in 2022. It also shows that the plasma coupling parameter (Γ) was weak during both years. It was observed that the thermal velocity 〖(v〗_te) of the electron reached its highest Values for both years at an altitude of 500 km.