Simulations of the Minimum Frequencies of Ionospheric Modes for Radio Communication Forecast

We apply two promising approaches, namely, the shooting method based on global optimization and the generalized force method, to the problem of point-to-point ionospheric ray tracing where the ionospheric modes tend to the minimum frequency. In most cases, both methods are capable of finding all rays connecting the given transmitter and receiver. However, the generalized force approach is more stable in locating highly divergent high rays. Application of the methods to a long-range single-hop radio channel demonstrates their potential for expanding the simulated frequency range, refining the model ionograms in the ranges of the minimum frequency of reflection from ionospheric layers, and significantly improving the overall forecast of the lowest usable frequency. The results of numerical simulations were also compared with the experimental data. Joint application of the presented methods provides valuable means for solving applied problems of radio communication forecast.