Monte Carlo simulation of ionospheric scintillation

Abstract

The ionosphere is an important consideration in the design of radars, especially those that operate at UHF frequency and below. A statistical model of ionospheric scintillation is developed on the basis of data analysis and known empirical results. From a mathematical point of view, we model the effect of scintillation on radar signals via a constructed stationary random process. The complex PDF and autocorrelation of the process are designed to match the observed phenomenon. The resulting scintillation algorithm can be used to model ionospheric effects in real and simulated radar data.