Effect of Seasonal Variations on the Behavior of Flexible Pavements in Burkina Faso: Towards Alternating and Periodic Loading of Multi-Axle Heavy Goods Vehicles for Road Durability

Bituminous materials are heat-sensitive, and their mechanical properties vary with temperature. This variation in properties is not without consequences on the performance of flexible road structures under the repeated passage of multi-axles. This study determines the influence of seasonal variations on the rate of permanent deformation, the rut depth of flexible pavements and the effect of alternating loading of heavy goods vehicles following the temperature variations on the durability of roads. Thus, an ambient and pavement surface temperature measurement was carried out in 2022. The temperature profile at different layers of the modelled pavement, the evaluation of deformation rates and rutting depth were determined using several models. The results show that the permanent deformation and rutting rates are higher at the level of the bituminous concrete layer than at the level of the asphalt gravel layer because the stresses decrease from the surface to the depth of the pavement. On the other hand, the variations in these rates, permanent deformations and ruts between the hot and so-called cold periods are more pronounced in the bitumen gravel than in bituminous concrete, showing that gravel bitumen is more sensitive to temperature variations than bituminous concrete despite its higher rigidity. Of these results, we suggested a periodic and alternating loading of the different types of heavy goods vehicles. These loads consist of fully applying the WAEMU standards with a tolerance of 15% during periods of high and low temperatures. This regulation has increased 2 to 3 times in the durability of roadways depending on the type of heavy goods vehicle.

foF2 Long-Term Trend at a Station Located near the Crest of the Equatorial Ionization Anomaly

Critical frequency foF2 long-term trends at Dakar station (14.4°N, 342.74°E) located near the crest of the equatorial ionization anomaly EIA, are analysed taking into account geomagnetic activity, increasing greenhouse gases concentration and Earth’s magnetic field secular variation. After filtering solar activity effect using F10.7 as a solar activity proxy, we determined the relative residual trends slopes α values for three different levels of geomagnetic activity. For example, at 1200 LT, the value of α goes from -0.27%/year for very magnetically quiet days to -0.19%/year for magnetically quiet days and to -0.13%/year for all days. It appears from the slopes α obtained, that they increase with the level of geomagnetic activity and their negative values are qualitatively consistent with the expected decreasing trend due to the increase in greenhouse gases concentration but are greater than 0.003%/year which would result from a 20% increase in CO2 emissions which actually took place during the analysis period. Regarding Earth’s magnetic field magnitude, B secular variation and the dip equator secular movement, Dakar station is located near the crest of the equatorial ionization anomaly, Earth’s magnetic field magnitude, B decreases there and the trough approaches the position of Dakar during the period of analysis. These two phenomena induce a decrease in foF2 which is in agreement with the decreasing trend observed at this station.

Comparative Study of the Geomagnetic Activity Effect on foF2 Variation as Defined by the Two Classification Methods at Dakar Station over Solar Cycle Phases

This paper aims to establish a comparison between both geomagnetic activity classification methods on foF2 diurnal variation over solar cycle phases. It concerns first a comparison of geomagnetic activity occurrences according to both classification methods;and second the geomagnetic effect on foF2 diurnal variation profiles as defined for the equatorial latitudes. The occurrences of the different disturbed geomagnetic activities (recurrent activity (RA), shock activity (SA) and fluctuant activity (FA)) according to both classifications (ancient classification (AC) and new classification (NC)) have been studied at Dakar ionosonde station (Lat: 14.8°N;Long: 342.6°E). Regarding both classifications, the RA occurs more during the decreasing phase. And it’s observed that the RA occurs the most during the increasing phase for the AC and during the minimum phase for the NC. The maximum gap of occurrence () between both classifications is -11.1% (for the negative value which is observed during the increasing phase) and +16.74% (for the positive one which is observed during the decreasing phase). The occurrence of the SA in relation with both classifications is the lowest during the minimum phase and the maximum occurrence is observed during the maximum and decreasing phases, for the AC, with a value close to 37% and for the NC at the maximum phase with a percentage of 54.47%. The maximum gap of occurrence () between both classifications is -17.85% (for the negative value which is observed at maximum phase) and +13.53% (for the positive one which is observed during the decreasing phase). For both classifications, the FA occurs the least during the minimum phase and the most during the maximum phase for the AC and at maximum and decreasing phases with percentage values of occurrence of roughly 37% for the NC. The maximum gap of occurrence () between both classifications is -10% (for the negative value which is observed during the decreasing phase) and +20.11% (for the positive one which is observed during the maximum phase). foF2 diurnal profiles throughout solar cycle phases concerning the AC and the NC have been compared. The FA diurnal profiles don’t present a difference. The RA and the SA present a difference during minimum and increasing phases and the least at maximum and decreasing phases.

TEC Variability during Fluctuating Events at Koudougou Station during Solar Cycle 24

This paper deals with TEC variability during fluctuating geomagnetic events (FE) during solar cycle 24 at Koudougou station (lat: 12o15'N;Geo long: -2o20'E). The study was done by comparing TEC variations during FE days with those of quiet days (QA). Comparison was made taking into account solar phases’ and seasons’ influences. FE’s and QA’s TEC curves are characterized by dome profiles. All graphs show two troughs, one in the morning (0500 LT) and the second in the evening (around 2000 LT) and a peak around 1400 LT during all solar phases and winter months and around 1500 LT for the remaining seasons. Both troughs are caused by the decrease of the photo ionization and an increase of the recombination phenomena, as well for FE as for QA periods. FE cause positive storms during all solar phases as well as during seasons and some negative storms during spring and summer months and minimum and maximum solar phases.

Global Reporting Format (GRF) Application Automation for Runway Surface Conditions in West Africa

This paper aims to design an automated Global Reporting Format’s (GRF) application in order to reduce time of manual application (on a runway) of the Global Reporting Format developed by International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). A method has been used to measure and generate Runway Condition Report (RCR) automatically. The developed computing model is an autonomous and automatic application implemented specially for West Africa (and can be extended to any rainy area). It uses Arduino materials and computing code developed by the authors. Results obtained show that using that method to retrieve the Runway Condition Report (RCR) is fast, so human presence on the runway is reduced. Even though the results obtained using this model are slightly different from those expected, the actual runway conditions are not too much affected.

Impact of Multi-Axle Vehicles and Road Overloads on the Durability of Asphalt Pavements

The multiplication of heavy vehicle axles and road overloads are phenomena that are becoming increasingly important on the road network of the WAEMU community. These phenomena, although framed by standards, have an impact on the durability of pavements. In this manuscript it is a question of evaluating the life of the road under the effect of traffic of these multi-axle vehicles and the different tolerances of overloads observed on the road network. To achieve this, a modeling of a bituminous pavement was made with the software ALIZE Lcpc Version 231 based on the principle of the French method of sizing. An inventory of multi-axle heavy goods vehicles was also made on a road with a weighing station. This traffic counting made it possible to classify heavy goods vehicles into three categories, namely: 1) trucks, 2) dual-wheeled semi-trailers and 3) single-wheeled semi-trailers. The results obtained show that in terms of aggressiveness, single-wheeled semi-trailers are the most aggressive, followed by heavy goods vehicles in the category of trucks with more than five axles and semi-trailers with dual wheels with more than seven axles. The durability of the road depends on the aggressiveness of heavy goods vehicles, it was found that the tolerance threshold for overloads of 15% of the total permissible rolling weight (TARW) or the total permissible laden weight (TALW) currently granted in the Community area needs to be reviewed. For durable road surfaces, this tolerance may only be allowed for heavy goods vehicles of type P11, P12 and P13. The 5% tolerance can be applied to all vehicles except heavy goods vehicles with single wheels.

Total Electron Content during Recurrent and Quiet Geomagnetic Periods at the Koudougou Station in Burkina Faso

In this work, the comparative study of total electron content (TEC) between recurrent and quiet geomagnetic periods of solar cycle 24 at Koudougou station with geographical coordinates 12°15'N;- 2°20'E was addressed. This study aims to analyze how geomagnetic variations influence the behavior of TEC in this specific region. The geomagnetic indices Kp and Dst were used to select quiet and recurrent days. Statistical analysis was used to interpret the graphs. The results show that the mean diurnal TEC has a minimum before dawn (around 0500 UT) and reaches a maximum value around 1400 UT, progressively decreasing after sunset. In comparison, the average diurnal TEC on recurrent days is slightly higher than on quiet days, with an average difference of 7 TECU. This difference increases with the level of geomagnetic disturbance, reaching 21 TECU during a moderate storm. The study also reveals significant monthly variations, with March and October showing the highest TEC values for quiet and recurrent days, respectively. Equinox months show the highest mean values, while solstice months show the lowest. Signatures of semi-annual, winter and equatorial ionization anomalies were observed. When analyzing annual variations, it was found that the TEC variation depends significantly on F10.7 solar flux, explaining up to 98% during recurrent geomagnetic activity and 92% during quiet geomagnetic activity.

Non-Contact System for Global Reporting Format (GRF) Automation: Contaminant Body Detection and Depth Estimation in the Case of Rainy Weather

The paper designed a non-contact system in order to perform the application (on a runway) of the Global Reporting Format (GRF) developed by International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). The system involves devices that film the surface (a runway in our case) from the air and displays the contaminant (water) body and measures the depth of the water automatically during the inspection. While measuring, data are sent to a computer used as a receiver. The developed devices are automatic devices implemented specially to use during rainy weather or even for some other cases. The aerial system uses a raspberry pi 4 model B, a camera, a laser sensor, an ultrasonic module, a Virtual Network Computing (VNC) and python codes developed by the authors. Results obtained show that using these devices to retrieve the Runway Condition Report (RCR) is very fast and human presence on the runway is not needed. The results obtained using these devices show that the method used herein is a proper solution to the GRF issues in the rainy areas, where the contaminant body detection and the accurate depth measurement were not well estimated because of the lack of a suitable method.

Modeling the Ionosphere during Quiet Time Variation at Ouagadougou in West Africa

Ionosphere parameters determination is used to characterize its composition in particles. These results have been compared to data curried from Ouagadougou station. The present study deals with Total Electron Contents (TEC) results determined by Thermosphere-Ionosphere-Electrodynamics General Circulation Model (TIEGCM) version 1.94 and International Reference Ionosphere (IRI) version 2012 during solar cycle 22. The minimum and maximum phases of solar cycle 22 are considered in this study for TEC determination. The station is located at Ouagadougou, in western Africa, characterized by its latitude (12.4°N) and longitude (358.5°E). The present study completes the two previous articles on hmF2 and foF2 parameters determination on the same station by comparison between TEC results carried out from TIEGCM and IRI models. So that, quiet time condition is determined by Aa (≤20 nT) for the five quietest days in each characteristic month of seasons. Rz values characterize minimum and maximum solar cycle phases.

foF2 Seasonal Asymmetry Time Variation at Korhogo Station from 1992 to 2002

foF2 seasonal asymmetry is investigated at Korhogo station from 1992 to 2002. We show that equinoctial asymmetry is less pronounced and somwhere is absent trough out solar cycle phase. In general, the absence of equinoctial asymmetry may be due to the fact that in equinox and for each solar cycle phase, the asymmetry is due to Russell-McPherron mechanism. The solstice anomaly or annual anomaly is always observed throughout solar cycle phase. The minimum value of ΔfoF2 is inferior than −60% seen during all solar cycle phase at 0700 LT. This annual asymmetry may be due to interplanetary corpuscular radiation.

The Geomagnetic Effects of Solar Activity as Measured at Ouagadougou Station

The coronal mass ejections (CMEs) produce by Sun poloidal magnetic fields contribute to geomagnetic storms. The geomagnetic storm effects produced by one-day-shock, two-days-shock and three-days-shock activities on Ouagadougou station F2 layer critical frequency time variation are analyzed. It is found that during the solar minimum and the increasing phases, the shock activity produces both positive and negative storms. The positive storm is observed during daytime. At the solar maximum and the decreasing phases only the positive storm is produced. At the solar minimum there is no three-days-shock activity. During the solar increasing phase the highest amplitude of the storm effect is due to the one-day-shock activity and the lowest is produced by the two-days-shock activity. At the solar maximum phase the ionosphere electric current system is not affected by the shock activity. Nevertheless, the highest amplitude of the storm effect is caused by the two-days-shock activity and the lowest by the one-day-shock activity. During the solar decreasing phase, the highest amplitude provoked by the storm is due to the three-days-shock activity and the lowest by the one-day-shock activity.