Some Theoretical Considerations on Remote Probing of Weakly Scattering Irregularities

Abstract

A basis is presented for the interpretation of electromagnetic or acoustic remote probing experiments in which back-scattering from horizontally stratified atmospheric irregularities is observed by radar techniques. The treatment takes into account geometrical factors and the polar diagrams of the transmitter and receiver. It is shown that single frequency observations give no information about the form of the irregularities if they are isotropic but that, if they are anisotropic with different horizontal and vertical scales, information about their horizontal scales may be obtained in some cases. The range of validity of some approximations introduced is tested by exact numerical computation for a typical example