Distributions of underdense meteor trail amplitudes and application to meteor scatter communication system design

Analysis of data from recent experiments leads to the observation that distributions of underdense meteor-trail peak signal amplitudes differ from classic predictions. The distribution of trail amplitudes in decibels relative to 1 W (dBw) is considered, and it is shown that Lindberg´s theorem can be used to apply the central limit theorem to this problem. Distributions of underdense meteor-trail amplitudes at six frequencies are compared with a Gaussian model. Implications of the Gaussian assumption on the design of communication systems are discussed