Study of electromagnetic wave scattering by periodic density irregularities in plasma

Conference · Sun Dec 31 04:00:00 EST 1995

OSTI ID:163164

Lyle, R; Kuo, S P; Huang, J ^[1]

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1. Polytechnic Univ., Farmingdale, NY (United States). Weber Research Inst.

A quasi-particle approach is used to formulate wave propagation and scattering in a periodically structured plasma. The theory is then applied to study the effect of bottomside sinusoidal (BSS) irregularities on the propagation of beacon satellites signals through the ionosphere. In this approach, the radio wave is treated as a distribution of quasi-particles described by a Wigner distribution function governed by a transport equation. The irregularities providing the collisional effect are modeled as a two dimensional density modulation on a uniform background plasma. The present work generalizes the previous work by including the spectral bandwidth ({Delta}k/k) effect of the spatially periodic irregularities on the transionospheric signal propagation. The collision of quasi-particles with the irregularities modifies the quasi-particle distribution and give rise to the wave scattering phenomenon. The multiple scattering process is generally considered in this deterministic analysis of radio wave scattering off the ionospheric density irregularities. The analysis shows that this two dimensional density grating effectively modulates the intensity of the beacon satellite signals. This spatial modulation of the wave intensity is converted into time modulation due to the drift of the ionospheric irregularities, which then results in the scintillation of the beacon satellite signals.

• OSTI ID: 163164
• Report Number(s): CONF-950612--; ISBN 0-7803-2669-5
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

66 PHYSICS
IONOSPHERE
MODULATION
PLASMA DENSITY
PLASMA DRIFT
RADIATION TRANSPORT
RADIOWAVE RADIATION
SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION
WAVE PROPAGATION