The received-amplitude distribution produced by radio sources of random occurrence and phase

A theoretical calculation is given of the amplitude probability distribution to be expected on an ionospheric v.h.f. forward-scatter circuit due to reflections from meteor trails alone. The analysis is based on the addition of a large number of signals with a frequency of occurrence inversely proportional to the square of their amplitude, and will therefore apply to other problems in which this relation holds. The calculated distribution is compared with a small number of practical results, and a method is outlined for deriving the relative proportion of meteoric and turbulent-scattering components in the signal.