The invention relates to a method and device for detecting the ionosphere total electron density. In a to-be-tested area, two dual-frequency GPS receiver antenna with a spacing of about 10 meters are put up to receive GPS satellite signals, and the GPS satellite signals are transmitted into two dual-frequency GPS receivers by a coaxial cable wire, satellite signals are processed by the dual-frequency GPS receiver, the received data is saved through a communications cable wire in a computer, data for one day is taken, and processing is conducted on the data using a software program. A polynomial model is established to calculate the delays of the dual-frequency GPS receiver and the satellite hardware, skewed total electron density is obtained after the removal of the delays of the dual-frequency GPS receiver and the satellite hardware, the total electron density of two skewed dual-frequency GPS receivers is integrated, through a projection function, is converted to a vertical total electron density. By the adoption of the 10 meter rank short base line based on the foundation GPS double-station layout mode, the ionosphere total electron density is detected, the accuracy is high, and data storage, management and device maintenance are easy.