| Abstract: | Using the method of parabolic equation (MPE), we obtain transfer equations for the mean field, the space-coherence function, and the ray intensity of a radiowave beam as it is reflected from a plasma layer with random inhomogeneities. The general solutions of these equations are found. Special attention is given to the case of radiowave beam reflection from a linear plasma layer with large-scale electron-density inhomogeneities. If a weakly directed transceiving SW antenna is used, the shortwave scattering can lead to a pronounced (of the order of 3 dB) decrease in the intensity of a vertical-sounding signal reflected from the ionospheric F2 layer only under the conditions of abnormally strong ionospheric electron-density perturbations. Radiophysical Research Institute, Nizhny Novgorod, Russia. Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Radiofizika, Vol. 41, No. 8, pp. 955–965, August, 1998. |
