AN ANALYSIS OF SOME STATISTICAL PROPERTIES OF AURORAL RADAR REFLECTIONS AND THEIR RELATIONSHIPS TO THE DETECTION CAPABILITIES OF THE RADAR
A statistical model of auroral echo occurrence has been made from an analysis of observations at 48.5 Mc/s obtained over a number of years of continuous operation. The probability density distribution of auroral target cross sections (σ) has been examined experimentally, and the resulting curve fitted by simple mathematical relations. Both an inverse power law and an exponential law have been derived, of the forms[Formula: see text]and[Formula: see text]These models have been interpreted in terms of distributed and localized targets, and used to analyze the echo occurrence indices and the effect which variation of radar parameters will have upon them. Both forms of the target law are useful although it is considered that the exponential form yields better agreement with observations over a wider range of the variables.