Scintillation index of echo wave in slant atmospheric turbulence

Abstract

Scintillation effect occurs when using the corner reflector in satellite for detection of a target. The intensity fluctuation caused by atmospheric turbulence seriously affects the echo signal. This paper is to explore the influence of atmospheric turbulence and beam parameters on the scintillation index. Based on the theory of optical wave propagation in the slant path and the ITU-R turbulence structure constant model which is altitude dependent, the on-axis scintillation index of the optical wave from the transmitter to the corner reflector and from the corner reflector to the receiver is studied. Considering both inner scale and outer scale, the expression of the on-axis scintillation index of the echo wave is obtained. The relationship of the on-axis scintillation index and the Fresnel rate is calculated and analyzed with various parameters. The results show that the on-axis scintillation index is influenced by inner scale, outer scale, the wavelength and the target height.