Polarization effects in radio wave scattering from meteor bursts

Using polarimetric radio echoes measured from meteor trails in the 1950s, the authors analyze the time-dependent scattering contributions from the specular as well as the plasma resonance effects in the radar-target scattering matrix representation. It is found that the radio echoes from the underdense meteor bursts are stronger in the transverse direction than in the longitudinal during the first half of the burst lifetime due to the plasma resonance effect. Using the S matrix method, the backscattering contribution was separated into three parts, namely, the specular, the resonance, and the LOS (line of sight) orientation. Normalized coefficients are plotted to illustrate the temporal behaviors of the specular and the resonance contributions. The present result may be useful for an improved modeling of vector scattering from meteor bursts