Validation of IRI-2007 against TEC observations during low solar activity over Indian sector

Published values of Total Electron Content (TEC) measured by ATS-6 are used to assess the latest available IRI-2007 model during solar minimum over Indian sector covering equatorial to low-mid-latitudes stations. The study reveals that during all seasons and at all locations, in general, the TEC predicted by NeQuick and IRI01-corr options provided in the IRI-2007 model shows much better agreement with the TEC observations as compared to those generated by IRI-2001.option. TEC predicted using NeQuick option found to be little more closer to the observation except at equatorial station during daytime, while IRI-2001 option highly overestimates the TEC in all seasons and times. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.