Computation of the RCS of a turbulent plasma cylinder

Abstract

Radar cross section (RCS) of plasma has been given much attention because it is of interest in target detection and discrimination. In this paper emphasis is put upon the computation of the RCS of the turbulent plasma cylinder. The cylinder is circular in shape and its radius may be different at different axial stations. The distributions of the electrical properties in the cylinder are assumed to be nonuniform both radially and axially. The theoretical model, called the distorted Born approximation, is discussed. It takes into account the effects on the propagation of the EM wave of not only random scattering, depolarization but also the mean (nonrandom) plasma. The computation is carried out for two plasma cylinders in which the electrical properties distribution are taken directly from other computations concerning the rocket plume. The effects of the aspect angle and the frequency of the wave on the RCS are also evaluated.