Propagation and Scattering of Microwaves and Millimeter Waves in Snow Based on Dense Random Media Theory

• Main Author: Tsang, Leung
• Other Authors: WASHINGTON UNIV SEATTLE
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 1992
• Subjects: Snow; Ice and Permafrost; Radiofrequency Wave Propagation; *ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVE PROPAGATION; *SNOW; *ELECTROMAGNETIC SCATTERING; DISTRIBUTION FUNCTIONS; MICROWAVES; MILLIMETER WAVES; VOLUME; MICROWAVES IN SNOW; DENSE MEDIA THEORY; VOLUME SCATTERING; ROUGH SURFACE SCATTERING; Ice; permafrost
• Online Access: http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA249300; http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA249300

The propagation and scattering of electromagnetic waves in snow terrain in the microwave and millimeter wave frequencies are strongly affected by both volume and surface scattering. We have studied the scattering in snow terrain in the frequency range of 5 GHz to 100 GHz. Snow terrain is classified as a dense medium because it is a mixture of ice particles and air with the ice particles occupying an appreciable fractional volume. Volume scattering in snow terrain has been studied with dense media theory. We have validated the dense media theory with Monte-Carlo simulations of pair-distribution functions and by numerical solutions of Maxwell's equations. Also we have performed Monte Carlo simulations of rough surface scattering by the finite element and finite difference methods.