Simulation of the effects of wavefront distortions in the turbulent atmosphere on the possibility of the rangefinding of radiation sources

Consideration is given to a rangefinding method that uses a large-baseline antenna system (e.g., a reception diversity system) to measure the range of sources according to the curvature of the signal wavefront. The statistical characteristics of range-measurement errors arising in this method due to random irregularities of the medium (i.e., the troposphere) of signal propagation are analyzed by a mathematical model. The possibility of the analytical estimation of these errors according to the rms of the autocorrelation function of the space-time signal is discussed.