The statistical characteristics of diffuse multipath radiation and its effect on antenna performance

Diffuse multipath is a random phenomenon that arises out of the diffraction of waves from rough surfaces. This form of multipath can, in turn, affect the angle estimation performance of monopulse antenna systems. In order to evaluate its effect, it is necessary to obtain the channel spread function that results. This function is basically the wave number spectrum of the resulting random field generated by the scattering. To do this, use is made of the Kodis-Barrick scattering cross section and Wagner's shadowing function. The evaluation is performed for the specific geometry of a spherical earth. Evaluation of the system performance degradation is also made for various system configurations.