Electromagnetic Waves in the Ionosphere: FDTD Study of Wave Propagation in the Ionosphere

Abstract

Study of electromagnetic (EM) wave propagation in the ionosphere requires knowledge of not only Maxwell's equations but also Earth's properties and plasma physics. Among the computational electromagnetics (CEM) methods that can describeEMwave propagation process, the finite‐difference time‐domain (FDTD) method is an efficient one that can easily account for all the ionosphere‐related factors. This article briefly introduces theFDTDtechnique to study wave propagation in the ionosphere along with basic applications. The method is divided into two types that account for the global/local wave propagation, separately.