Analysis of plasma sheath propagation attenuation based on ray tracing

Abstract

Based on the complex Snell's law of lossy media, a ray tracing method is proposed to study the propagation attenuation characteristics of electromagnetic (EM) waves in plasma sheaths. The plasma sheath is modelled as layered media.This method considers the complex ray characteristics of inhomogeneous plane EM waves, tracks the propagation rays of EM waves in each layer of media, and calculates the propagation attenuation of EM waves in each layer of media according to the propagation direction of the complex rays. The attenuation during numerical cumulative propagation is the total attenuation of EM waves through the plasma sheath. By comparing the results with that obtained from the WKB method, the accuracy of the ray tracing algorithm is proved. The results of the propagation attenuation of a blunt cone model are calculated by the proposed method, and the effects of different parameters on the EM wave propagation attenuation in the plasma sheath are analysed at different heights, velocities, incident angles, and incident positions. Studying the propagation characteristics of EM waves in the plasma sheath is of importance in application for radar target tracking, blackout communication, and other issues.

Propagation Path of Radio Waves in Nonequilibrium Reentry Plasma Around a Nanosatellite With an Inflatable Aeroshell

“…Zhang et al [18] proposed the improved SMM, which was robust and accurate, and it solves the singularity problem of SMM. The ray-tracing model [19], [20] has a low computational cost method and is used to study the electromagnetic waves behavior in the flow field near the atmospheric reentry capsule. The multi-fluid and fully Maxwell's equation coupling has been implemented by Kundrapu et al [21].…”