Comparison of COSMIC measurements with the IRI-2007 model over the eastern Mediterranean region

This paper presents a comparison of the International Reference Ionosphere (IRI-2007) model over the eastern Mediterranean region with peak ionospheric characteristics (foF2–hmF2) and electron density profiles measured by FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC satellites in terms of GPS radio occultation technique and the Cyprus digisonde. In the absence of systematic ionosonde measurements over this area, COSMIC measurements provide an opportunity to perform such a study by considering observations for year 2010 to investigate the behaviour of the IRI-2007 model over the eastern Mediterranean area.