Exact ray-path solutions in a quasi-linear ionosphere

Exact ray solutions are helpful in determining the accuracy of general purpose ray-tracing techniques. In this paper such solutions are presented for range, group path, phase path and reflection height of radio rays entering the ionospheric layer from the bottom and from the top. The ionospheric model used to produce the exact solutions is a function which allows closed-form integration of the ray parameter expressions. In this ionosphere, first introduced by Muldrew, electron density is almost a linear function of height, but it does not vary in the horizontal direction. The earth's magnetic field and electron collisions are neglected but curved earth-ionosphere geometry is included.