Fluctuations of a millimeter-wave beam on a path with back reflection

An analysis is presented of experimental results on amplitude fluctuations of millimeter waves at a frequency of 36.2 GHz on a path 17 km long with backscattering that has a length of 34 km. The dependence of the statistical characteristics of the fluctuations on the time of day and time of year is examined; and the present results are compared with those obtained at 9.4 GHz. The maximum stochastic-modulation depth of the wave-amplitude logarithm was found to reach a value of 30 percent. The appearance of inversion layers during nighttime leads to deep fadings in the microwave range. The integral distribution of amplitude-logarithm fluctuations is close to normal, while the correlation time ratio tau-e36 (0.6-8 sec) to tau-e9 (0.9-13 sec) is roughly equal to 0.6.