Studying the influence of geomagnetic storms on parameters of the ionospheric F2 layer during solar activity cycle 24

This paper presents the results of a study on the behavior of parameters of the ionospheric F2 layer, such as the critical frequency (f₀F2) and the peak height of the layer (hₘF2), under geomagnetic storms of varying intensities. The study is based on vertical sounding measurements from the DIDBase database and the Dst index calculated by the World Data Center for Geomagnetism. We examine a methodology for identifying the presence of a geomagnetic storm using Dst-index time series. The main patterns of f₀F2 and hₘF2 variations for different geographic latitudes, seasons, and storm intensities are identified and analyzed. The obtained results can be useful for forecasting and modeling ionospheric conditions, which is of great importance for various applications, including satellite communications, global positioning systems, and shortwave radio communications.