Characterization of the wave propagation in the ionospheric channel by the scattering function

We present a new method of calculating the effect of non-stationarities on ionospheric propagation. By adding one extra equation to Haselgrove´s (1955) system, the delay-Doppler function can be readily calculated, and the dynamic behaviour of the ionosphere can be taken into account in a very simple way. These equations have been applied to an ionospheric electron density model, in order to compute the deterministic part of the scattering function, in the presence or in the absence of the horizontal gradients (skeletal part).