A comparison of the full-wave and WKB solutions of a plane wave with impulsive time variation reflected from a sech2electron-density profile

This communication compares a more general numerical point-to-point transient wave propagation program to a known analytical (full-wave) solution based upon a certain special geometry and ionospheric profile. The main purpose of the comparison is that of using the known analytical results as a test case for the numerical program. The parameters of the ionosphere were chosen to purposively tax the condition of requiring a slowly varying medium in using the Wentzel-Kramer-Brillouin (WKB) method (i.e., the parameters chosen lead to a sporadic
E
-type layer). With the results favorable for this case, the application of a numerical procedure, based upon the WEB method, to the more slowly varying
F
region would definitely be acceptable. Based upon the full-wave and WKB solutions, results are given in the form of time-domain waveforms due to reflection of a transient wave from the ionosphere.