Microwave scattering by tropospheric fluctuations in an evaporation duct

Numerical analysis of the centimeter wave propagation in an evaporation duct with allowance for scattering by correlated turbulent fluctuations of the tropospheric refraction index is carried out. It is shown that energy leakage from the duct leads to an additional decrease in the average wave power. The amplitude of random power variations above the duct turns out to be significantly higher compared with the variations inside the duct. An increase in the vertical correlation radius of refraction-index inhomogeneities leads to an increase in the vertical correlation radius of the radio-wave intensity. Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Radiofizika, Vol. 52, No. 4, pp. 307–317, April 2009.