Accurate calculation of ray tracing in spherically stratified atmosphere

The theoretical and numerical approaches are presented to determine the traces of ray propagation in spherical layered atmosphere. By using Snell's law, ray trace propagation in spherical layered atmosphere were studied. Functional dependence on the parameters, such as elevation angle, ray length, locations of reflecting points, etc. on the gradient of atmospheric refraction index were numerically calculated and discussed for supposed links. It shows that the distribution of atmospheric refraction index has great effect on ray trace propagation.