Scattering of electromagnetic radiation by an ionized gaseous medium

A statistical model is proposed for the scattering of microwave radiation by a weakly ionized gaseous medium irradiated by hard ionizing radiation. It is shown that owing to the correlation of the positions of the elementary scatterers, the predominant contribution comes from scattering on the tracks of the high-energy ionizing particles. The prospects for radar detection of the tracks of radioactive ionization of air are assessed. The maximum distance for radar detection of a cloud of radioactive contamination is calculated as a function of the second release of nuclide activity. An analysis is made of the dependence of the detection threshold on the type of radioactivity, observation geometry, and wavelength of the probe radiation. Zh. Tekh. Fiz. 67, 76–82 (February 1997)