A global ionosphere scintillation propagation model for equatorial regions

Abstract

The formulation of a wave propagation model through a turbulent ionosphere is presented. The calculation of the transmitted field enables the estimation of signal impairments, especially its intensity and phase fluctuations. The model outputs are compared with measurement results. This was performed for the intensity and phase fluctuation levels and for the spectral content of the transmitted signal. The field second-order moment calculation is then presented. The mutual coherence function characterizes the channel transfer function. It is required for radar performances assessment after propagation through the turbulent medium. It was demonstrated that under simplified hypothesis, an analytical solution can be derived allowing a sensitivity analysis study.

Keywords

• 2439: ionospheric irregularities
• 0659: random media and rough surfaces
• 0689: wave propagation
• 0669: scattering and diffraction
• 6952: radar atmospheric physics