Atmospheric refraction corrections of radiowave propagation for airborne and satellite-borne radars

The atmospheric refraction corrections of radiowave propagation for airborne and satellite-borne radars for the spherically stratified (horizontally homogeneous) atmosphere (including lower atmosphere and ionosphere) are discussed. First, the critical apparent depression angle for radar and the perigee of ray are found using the refractive index profile close to the lowest point of the ray as the refractive index profile of spherically stratified atmosphere, and strict expressions of line-of-sight distance for radar that take account of refraction are presented. Then, to which condition the atmospheric refraction to be corrected belongs is determined, and the positioning corrections for all the twelve atmospheric refractive conditions are made using ray-tracing method. At last, the velocity-measuring corrections are made.