Mimic simulations of radio-wave propagation in a randomly irregular ionosphere

We present the technique and results of mimic simulations of radio-wave propagation in a randomly irregular ionosphere with allowance for the Earth’s sphericity and the background ionosphere. Based on consideration of the probability distributions of the angle of reception and of the corresponding amplitude, eikonal, and angle of radiation, obtained by the mimic modeling, we conclude that the most probable ray path is symmetric with respect to the region of its reflection from the ionosphere and that the mean reception angle and the corresponding mean radiation angle are equal. The simulations yield the statistical characteristics of a wave, such as the variances of the reception angle and the eikonal, as well as the correlation functions of the eikonal and the field. The simulation results concerning the variances of reception angles and eikonal are compared with the results of the first approximation of the perturbation theory. It is shown that the eikonal fluctuations in the irregularity-free space, caused by fluctuations of angles of the lower rays escaping from an ionospheric layer with random irregularities, should be taken into account. © 2002 Plenum Publishing Corporation.