Gain losses and radiation pattern of a linear antenna in an anisotropic turbulent atmosphere

The radiation pattern and the directive gain of linear antennas in an anisotropic randomly inhomogeneous atmosphere are analyzed for systems with and without compensation of arrival-angle fluctuations. The analysis is based on an anisotropic model for the spectrum of refractive-index fluctuations of the atmosphere. It is shown that, as compared with the anisotropic model, the isotropic model yields higher values of the directive gain and smaller distortions of the radiation pattern, especially at small angles of elevation. This is because the broadening of the pattern and the reduction of directive gain are determined by the magnitude of phase fluctuations of the signal on the aperture, the isotropic model yielding lower values of phase fluctuations at small angles of elevation.