Path Optimization for Point-to-Point Ionospheric Ray Tracing

Abstract:

A variational method is a promising approach to the point-to-point ionospheric ray tracing based on the direct utilization of Fermat's principle. While variants of variational method are used in seismology, acoustiсs, and other fields, the direct variation method is not widely known in radio science. In our work, a variant of the direct variational method is presented taking into account the experience of other researchers. The main features of the proposed method are generalized optimization that taking into account different types of phase path stationarity and systematic identification of ray paths. Application of the method in the inhomogeneity ionosphere demonstrates its ability to resolve complex ray configurations and muti-path propagation.

This study was financially supported by the Grant of the President of Russian Federation for young scientists (MK- 2584.2019.5).