Statistical parameters for scattering from randomly oriented arrays, cylinders, and plates

Abstract

The statistical distribution of backscattering <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">S</tex> from some randomly oriented simple configurations is considered in terms of the log-normal distribution. The log-normal parameters (mean and variance of ln <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">S</tex> ), for arrays, cylinders, and plates are obtained and shown to afford an accurate description of their backscattering statistics over a wide range, for sizes in excess of a few wavelengths. A reason for this correspondence is obtained by noting that the backscattering pattern of an array may be expressed as a product of factors which are uncorrelated with respect to random sampling. A product of independent factors leads to the log-normal distribution. Finally, results for some randomly sampled simple antenna patterns are given.