Transionospheric radio signals might undergo random modulations of their
amplitude and phase caused by scattering on irregular structures in the
ionosphere. This phenomenon, known as scintillation, is governed by the
space weather conditions, time of the day, season, local distribution of
the geomagnetic field, etc. All these factors make ionospheric
scintillation both highly variable in space and time. Moreover,
scintillation are intrinsically anisotropic since the associated
scattering irregularities tend to align and stretch along the
geomagnetic field lines. Depending on the relative position of signal
source, the receiving station, and the irregularity, the scintillation
effect on the transmitted wave might be enhanced or reduced. This study
is focused on the consistent accounting of this geometric effect in
scintillation modeling with the emphasis on situations when the
communication or sensing sender-receiver link is nearly horizontal. For
this task the single phase screen model has been used to model the
scattering of propagating radio signals on random ionospheric layer. The
geometric enhancement effect of scintillation is demonstrated by
considering communication links via a geostationary beacon satellite
over the equator.