Bottomside parameters B0,B1 from Arecibo incoherent scatter radar measurements Original Research Article

About 1500 electron density (Ne) profiles observed with the Arecibo incoherent scatter (I.S.) radar have been used to obtain the “best” B0 and B1 parameters by fitting the observed profiles to the IRI bottomside profile function. Seasonal and diurnal variations of these parameters are obtained. The relative difference between the “best fit” profiles and the observed I.S profiles is also studied. This difference is rather small during the night for all the seasons, but is very large during the day, especially during summer and equinox seasons, when an F1 layer is present. About 70 % of the profiles show rather good agreement.