The Ionosphere is that band of atmosphere extending from about 50 to 1000 kilometres above the earth's surface in which the sun's ultraviolet radiation ionises gas molecules which then lose an electron. These free electrons influence the propagation of microwave signals (speed, direction and polarisation) as they pass through the layer. The Ionospheric Delay on GPS signals is frequency-dependent and hence impacts on the L1 and L2 signals by a different amount (unlike that within the Troposphere). A linear combination of pseudo-range or carrier phase observations on the L1 and L2 carrier waves can be created to almost entirely eliminate the Ionospheric Delay. The resulting observable is known as the Ionosphere-Free carrier phase (or pseudo-range). For single-frequency receivers it is not possible to account for this signal bias in this way. A broadcast model is contained within the transmitted Navigation Message, however, it is a relatively poor model (unlikely to account for more than 50% of the effect) as the Delay is very difficult to predict. The magnitude of the Ionospheric Delay is a function of the latitude of the receiver, the season, the time of day, and the level of solar activity. The Delay in the Zenith direction can be several tens of metres, increasing as the elevation angle of the satellite signal reduces (being 3-5 times greater than in the Zenith direction). The Delay is largely eliminated in Relative or Differential Positioning, however, the residual Ionospheric Delay increases as the baseline length increases and may be a significant source of error (especially in the height component) for very high precision GPS Geodesy. Even when using dual-frequency instrumentation, the Ionospheric Delay can still cause problems during the process of rapid Ambiguity Resolution when phase and range combinations other than the Ionosphere-Free one are used.

This definition is in context to GPS. See more contextual defintions for Ionosphere, Ionospheric Delay.