Function lupnt::IonosphereDelayThinShell

Function Documentation

double lupnt::IonosphereDelayThinShell(double elevation_rad, double vtec_tecu, double frequency_hz, double station_height_m, double shell_height_m = 350.0e3, double earth_radius_m = R_EARTH)

Ionospheric slant delay from a single-layer (thin-shell) vertical-TEC model.

The slant TEC is obtained by mapping the vertical TEC through the ionospheric pierce point of a thin shell at shell_height_m, and the group delay follows the dispersive 40.3 * STEC / f^2 relation. The delay is positive (a group-path lengthening) and scales as 1/f^2, so a dual-frequency link can cancel it.

Parameters:

  • elevation_rad – Topocentric elevation of the spacecraft [rad].

  • vtec_tecu – Vertical total electron content [TECU] (1 TECU = 1e16 el/m^2).

  • frequency_hz – Carrier frequency [Hz].

  • station_height_m – Station height above the ellipsoid [m].

  • shell_height_m – Ionospheric thin-shell height [m].

  • earth_radius_m – Earth radius used for the pierce-point geometry [m].

Returns:

One-way group delay [m] (>= 0).