Scientific review on the ionospheric absorption and research prospects of a Complex Eikonal model for one-layer ionosphere

Abstract

The present paper conducts a scientific review on ionospheric absorption, extrapolating the research prospects of a complex eikonal model for one-layer ionosphere. As regards the scientific review, here a quasi-longitudinal (QL) approximation for nondeviative absorption is deduced which is more refined than the corresponding equation reported by Davies (1990). As regards the research prospects, a complex eikonal model for one-layer ionosphere is analyzed in depth here, already discussed by Settimi et al. (2013). A simple formula is deduced for a simplified problem. A flat, layered ionospheric medium is considered, without any horizontal gradient. The authors prove that the QL nondeviative amplitude absorption according to the complex eikonal model is more accurate than Rawer’s theory (1976) in the range of middle critical frequencies.