Search

Dusty plasma environments, such as aircraft sheaths and rocket exhaust plumes, significantly affect the propagation of electromagnetic (EM) waves. In this study, the Mie theory and the dyadic Green method were used to calculate the Mie scattering cross section, Debye scattering cross section of the surrounding Debye cloud, and Mie–Debye coherence cross section formed by the two scattering fields. We propose that the Mie–Debye model should be regarded as a whole particle, and the dusty plasma can be simplified by assuming that it is composed of Mie–Debye spherical models of different densities. These assumptions were combined with the scattering characteristics of the microscopic Mie–Debye model and Monte Carlo method to analyze the propagation characteristics of EM waves in dusty plasma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, new expressions for wave structure functions (WSFs) for optical planes and spherical waves propagating in plasma turbulence are derived based on the refractive index undulation power spectrum of hypersonic plasma turbulence and Rytov approximation theory. On this basis, the mathematical expressions for plasma turbulence modulation transfer function (MTF) for optical planes and spherical waves are obtained using WSF expression. The mathematical expressions describe the attenuation effect of plasma turbulence on optical imaging systems. The effects of different wavelengths, turbulent outer scales, and refractive index undulation variance on plasma turbulence MTF were calculated and analyzed. Results show that increasing the incident wavelength reduces the effect of plasma turbulence on the imaging system. Moreover, increasing the turbulence outer scale and reducing the refractive index undulation variance can also improve the imaging results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new electromagnetic (EM) calculation model, the inhomogeneity zonal medium model (IZMM) (based on the physical optics (PO) method), is proposed to calculate and analyze the EM scattering characteristics of hypersonic vehicle covered with a plasma sheath. First, the flow field of the plasma sheath is divided into nonuniform calculation subregions with different spacing sizes. The shape of the external flow field of the aircraft is modeled by fitting with a paraboloid and circular platform with different radii. Then, the electron density, temperature, and pressure distribution are obtained by collecting data from different points in the flow field of the sheath. Finally, a piecewise PO method is used to calculate the backscattering radar cross section (BRCS) of the hypersonic vehicle covered with plasma sheath from $L$ -band to $X$ -band. The numerical results show that the EM scattering characteristics of a target spacecraft covered with a plasma sheath can be described more accurately by using zoned medium model simulation. Under different flying conditions, the BRCS of hypersonic vehicle covered with a plasma sheath appears to be reduced to different degrees in the $S$ -band and the band range of 7–11 GHz, and a large attenuation of BRCS occurs in the head area of the aircraft. The research results enrich the EM modeling method of hypersonic vehicles, overcome some shortcomings of the existing PO method, and provide technical support and innovative ideas for the accurate analysis of the EM scattering characteristics of hypersonic targets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effects of nonuniform moving plasma on the polarization properties of electromagnetic (EM) waves were theoretically studied. Taking the ${L}$ -band right-hand circularly polarized (RHCP) wave as an example, based on the nonuniform moving plasma slab moving perpendicularly to the incident wave, the relationship between the polarization properties of the transmitted wave and the normalized velocity of the nonuniform plasma slab was analyzed. The results indicate that the polarization state of the transmitted wave is closely related to the normalized velocity of the nonuniform plasma slab. When the plasma slab approaches to the incident wave, its influence on the polarization properties is greater than that away from the incident wave. In addition, when the change of the polarization state reaches the maximum, the corresponding normalized velocity is mainly determined by the incident angle and the collision frequency. Various interesting features regarding polarization properties were obtained. The results are very important for applications in space exploration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The influence of weakly ionized dusty plasma on electromagnetic (EM) wave propagation was investigated to understand blackouts in communications during the reentry of hypersonic vehicles. Adopting the Bhatnagar–Gross–Krook (BGK) collision model and charging theory, the total complex dielectric constant of weakly ionized dusty plasma is derived considering solely: 1) a nonzero minimum velocity of the electron; 2) a contribution of the second term of the collision cross-section; and finally, 3) both 1) and 2) considered. Using the propagation matrix method, we analyzed the dielectric constant and propagation properties from our modified models and those of the traditional model for weakly ionized plasma with and without dust. The results show that, regarding EM waves, the dust-free weakly ionized plasma has a larger coefficient of reflection than weakly ionized dusty plasma. Simultaneous considering nonzero velocity and contribution of the second term of the collision cross-section significantly changed the dielectric constant and propagation properties, indicating the nonnegligible role of these two factors. Furthermore, the influence of dust size and concentration on the propagation properties of the EM wave was discussed with considering the two factors. The simulated results show that the coefficient of absorption increases and the coefficient of transmission decreases with increase in size and concentration of dust particles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anisotropic spatial distribution data of refractive-index fluctuation in hypersonic turbulence are obtained based on the experimental images of hypersonic turbulence. Furthermore, taking re-entry turbulent plasma fluctuation into consideration, the variance of the refractive-index fluctuation in hypersonic plasma is calculated based on the Saha equation and the expression of refractive index in hypersonic plasma. On this basic, the anisotropic power-spectral model of hypersonic plasma turbulence is established by introducing the orientation factor to the modified von Karman spectrum. Finally, the mutual coherence function (MCF) and the angle-of-arrival fluctuations of electromagnetic (EM) waves propagation in hypersonic plasma turbulence are calculated. Results show that the angle-of-arrival fluctuations have obvious differences between the directions of vertical to turbulent plasma flow field and parallel to it. The various gradients of the electron density along the direction of vertical to turbulent plasma flow field are far greater than the parallel to it, which causes the horizontal scale is larger than perpendicular scale of plasma eddies. Therefore, when EM waves propagating through plasma turbulence, the refractive effect of plasma eddies show obvious anisotropy. The results of this paper can be used to analyze the EM waves propagation characteristics in hypersonic plasma turbulence. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

3-D time-varying and spatially nonuniform plasma is applied using the finite-difference time-domain algorithm in investigating the effects of electromagnetic (EM) wave scattering in the plasma sheath. The plasma sheath is stratified in space, and three types of electron density in time-varying forms are assumed. The characteristics of different time-varying forms are analyzed using radar cross section (RCS). In addition, the effects of RCS change with time at S - and L -bands are investigated using electron density as the time variable. In the condition of time-varying and spatially nonuniform plasma sheath, the attenuation of EM wave is affected by different time-varying regularities of electron density ( ne ). The RCS varying with time is related to the change rate of ne . [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]