Comparison of electron density profiles extracted from DIAS maps and ionosonde measurements at Nicosia during low solar activity

This paper presents a comparison of electron density profiles derived from digital ionosonde measurements at the low-middle latitude European station in Nicosia, Cyprus (coordinates: 35°N, 33°E geographic) and the DIAS system at various heights (100,150,200,250,300,350,400 and 450 km). DIAS (European Digital Upper Atmosphere Server) is a service based on a pan-European digital data collection on the state of the upper atmosphere, which offers real-time information and historical data collections provided by most operating ionospheric stations in Europe. Hourly profiles were obtained using manually scaled data over Nicosia during the solar minimum period from January to December 2009. Hourly and monthly root mean squared error values (R.M.S.E) between Nicosia and DIAS maximum electron density values were also computed and comparisons of the observations were made.