Using ray-tracing techniques in an inhomogeneous plasma, we calculate the direction and size of the scattered image of the low-frequency auroral kilometric radiation (AKR) radio source seen through the magnetosheath and the shock by an observer in the 0200 to 0800 LT sector at geocentric distances of 50 to 250 RE. The geometry of the limiting surfaces and the density distribution are those derived from in situ measurements. A good fit to three sets of ISEE-3 observations is obtained at all frequencies assuming that the magnetosheath density inhomogeneities are weak, their autocorrelation function Gaussian and their scattering power at twice the local fp is 4¿10-9 rad2 m-1. Variations of the model show to what extent observations of the AKR scattered image could, in principle, yield information on the density jump rs across the shock, its variation with X (GSE) and as a function of time. ¿ American Geophysical Union 1993