An Approach to the Approximate Solution of the Ionosphere Absorption Problem

A series of parabolic approximations has been obtained for portions of the Chapman distribution and its product with the collisional frequency. By their use, an improved approximate solution has been found for the "true" and the group height of reflection, and for the absorption in the region, under conditions of (1) vertical incidence, (2) wave frequency greater than the maximum collision frequency and less than the critical frequency for the region, and (3) with the earth\´s magnetic field neglected. These improved analytic approximations are compared with the usual parabolic approximation and with numerical approximations obtained by other workers.