A comparative study on the propagation characteristics of electromagnetic waves in inhomogeneous plasma sheath

A plasma sheath is formed on the surface of high speed spacecrafts when they return to atmosphere, which leads to electromagnetic waves be reflected, absorbed, and finally the intensity decreases. In this paper, the hyperbolic electron number density distribution model is established firstly. Then, the power reflection coefficient, power absorption coefficient and the power transmission coefficient of this model is derived by the analytic method. Finally, this study mainly focuses on the comparison of the analytic method and Wentzel-Kramer-Brillouin (WKB) method about their applicability and limitations, by discussing the electromagnetic wave power transmission coefficient of one-dimensional case. In short, the related research can provide a theoretical reference for the spacecraft to overcome the “blackout” effect of communication.