Abstract: In the short wave band, traditional time difference of arrival (TDOA) location method is no longer applicable for the big difference between the radio path and the actual ground distance brought on by the ionospheric reflection propagation. A new TDOA location method based on ray tracing technique is proposed, and the influence of ionospheric parameters on location precision is analyzed. The results show that in obtaining accurate ionospheric information, the proposed method can accurately locate the target; ionospheric measurement error greatly affects the location precision; increase the number of sites can improve location precision and reduce the precision requirements of the ionospheric parameters. The simulation results provide a theoretical basis for the development of the short wave TDOA location system and the precision requirement of the ionospheric parameters.