Modeling of the space–time structure of radio scattering from meteor trail

The advanced theory of the radio wave scattering from the underdense meteor trails is developed. The single scattering approximation is extended to the most realistic situation, when the length of a trail significantly exceeds a Fresnel radius, whereas the trail's thickness is small as compared with this radius. The theory presented takes into account three important factors, influencing the scattered signal: decreasing of the intensity due to rays’ spreading, variations of the linear density along the trail, and forming the transverse scattering indicatrix. The theory includes all the known results as partial cases, in particular, it embraces both backscattering and the oblique propagation, typical for meteor radio communication. Relation of the obtained formulas to the known results is shown. The results from modeling the space–time structure of meteor scattering illustrate the possibilities of the theory.