Path Bending Correction for Refraction Delay of Electromagnetic Waves

Focusing on lowering the cut-off elevation in the neutral atmosphere refraction delay correction and on raising the accuracy of the correction, we derive the formulae for calculating the correction for the bending of the light path caused by atmospheric refraction. This is the sort of correction that is given after the principal term in theoretical models of neutral atmospheric refraction delay correction, but is often neglected because it is a small quantity. However, in practice, for a not too low elevation like 15°, this term reaches 1 cm order of magnitude and can not be neglected. Li Yan-xing et al. specially gave a derivation of this correction and a computational method by successive approximation and some calculated values. Yan Hao-jian also proposed a formula of direct calculation but his calculated result was more than 3 times smaller than that of Li Yan-xing, which shows that further study of this correction is called for. Here we give a simple, convenient and reliable formula for calculating the correction.