Distortion of a radio pulse reflected from an inhomogeneous lossy plasma

The effect of electron collision loss on the distortion of an electromagnetic pulse reflected from an inhomogeneous plasma or ionosphere is analyzed. The electron density of the ionosphere is assumed to increase linearly in the direction normal to the plane interface. The case of a plane wave carrying a pulsed FM signal is considered. The pulse is assumed to have a Gaussian envelope and an instantaneous frequency which varies linearly with time.