{"id":1194,"date":"2026-07-02T19:32:52","date_gmt":"2026-07-03T02:32:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chuckrino.com\/?page_id=1194"},"modified":"2026-08-04T08:49:58","modified_gmt":"2026-08-04T15:49:58","slug":"scintillation-theory-revisited","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/chuckrino.com\/?page_id=1194","title":{"rendered":"Scintillation Theory Revisited"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Theory of Scintillation with Applications in Remote Sensing<\/em> was published in 2011.\u00a0 This website was established as a forum for discussing the book and its applications, anticipating new insights and refinements of the computational procedures.\u00a0 The book has served its original purpose well.\u00a0 However, computational resources have improved considerably and the implied completeness of the theory needs elaboration.\u00a0\u00a0Radio Scintillation History<\/em><\/a> provides an historical context.<\/p>\n

In Scintillation Theory Revisited<\/a><\/em> we review an application of Maxwell\u2019s equations that effectively equates a homogeneous\u00a0 operation with the summation of a media-interaction term and the gradient of the electric-field divergence. \u00a0The Green-function solution to the homogeneous operation can be used to construct a formally exact equation that characterizes the total field.\u00a0 Tractable solutions are necessarily tailored to constrained configurations.\u00a0 In a transparent inhomogeneous medium one can envision exploring the propagation space by following the progression of a directed narrow beam.\u00a0 Ray tracing algorithms identify the unique path such a beam would follow.<\/p>\n

Pursuing the concept further, the field in any slice plane can be represented as a spectrum<\/em> of propagating plane waves.\u00a0 If the plane-wave components are confined to the forward hemisphere just ahead of the beam source, backward propagating field components are negligible.\u00a0 It follows that the field in the decomposition plane completely defines the field ahead of the plane, whereby a forward-marching solution can be constructed.\u00a0 The propagation problem is reduced to constructing operators that will incrementally advance the field in a rectangular coordinate system.<\/p>\n

The forward propagation equation (FPE) and the parabolic wave equation (PWE) support the construction of forward-marching solutions. \u00a0Each plane-wave component propagates independently.\u00a0 Split-step solutions alternate phase-perturbation and free-space propagation. However, problems amenable to such treatment are confined to near line-of-site propagation.\u00a0 Highly refracting media, such as the earth\u2019s ionosphere at low (HF) frequencies, are excluded.<\/p>\n

Generating propagators that accommodate a broader range of propagation angles is analytically and computationally challenging.\u00a0 Homogeneous media support propagation of\u00a0 two orthogonal circularly polarized characteristic modes.\u00a0 Each mode has its own refractive index.\u00a0 In the absence of an imposed magnetic field a single scalar propagation equation characterizes the propagation.\u00a0 Scalar media include the earth\u2019s atmosphere. The same propagation phenomena affect acoustic propagation in water and the earth’s crust.\u00a0 Factorization methods, which are formally exact in transversely inhomogeneous media were reviewed.<\/p>\n

A scalar ray-tracing algorithm was developed as a means of identifying the limits of FPE\/PWE simulations.\u00a0\u00a0 The ray trace algorithm requires only the specification of the refractive index and the gradient of the refractive index.\u00a0 A ray can be launched and traced by specifying the starting position and direction.\u00a0 Rays are terminated at a maximum height and distance.\u00a0 Mirror reflection occurs at a specified lower bounding surface.\u00a0 \u00a0ChapmanRay<\/a> is an example.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Theory of Scintillation with Applications in Remote Sensing was published in 2011.\u00a0 This website was established as a forum for discussing the book and its applications, anticipating new insights and refinements of the computational procedures.\u00a0 The book has served … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1194","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chuckrino.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1194","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chuckrino.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chuckrino.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chuckrino.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chuckrino.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1194"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/chuckrino.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1194\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1271,"href":"https:\/\/chuckrino.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1194\/revisions\/1271"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chuckrino.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1194"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}