ON THE GEOMETRY OF RADIO REFLECTIONS FROM AURORA

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Abstract
By assuming that auroral radio reflections are produced by volume scattering in clouds of ionization having the same spatial configuration as the visible auroral structures, and by taking into account the radar pulse duration and antenna beam width, it is possible to predict the probability of echo occurrence as a function of range and azimuth. This echo distribution is quite similar to that observed experimentally even when "aspect sensitivity" of the individual scatterer is neglected. Unfortunately, the optical evidence is not sufficiently extensive to permit precise calculations to be made, nor the radio evidence to permit detailed comparisons, but previous estimates of the shape of the scattering structures that have been based on the azimuthal echo distribution without regard to the factors discussed here are likely to be seriously in error.

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