The South African ionosonde network: Past and present

The South African ionosonde network has played an extensive role in African Space Physics studies since 1973. However, this network has really become a major contributor to ionospheric science since the year 2000 when the network expanded to 3 stations. In 2008, this network was further expanded to a fourth location, and now the South African ionosonde network has grown to 4 real time contributors of ionospheric data. The stations are located at Grahamstown, Louisvale, Madimbo and Hermanus. This paper will describe the growth of this network, and the various practical projects that the network has been involved in, and indeed, made possible over the past decade. Future planned projects will also be discussed, and will include endeavors to grow the network into Africa. In addition, the South African ionospheric map will be used as an example of successful practical applications for the data collected from this network.