THE PROBABILITY OF INTERCEPTING RADIO SIGNALS SCATTERED BY METEOR TRAILS
Abstract
The possibility of detecting communication systems which use signals scattered by meteor trails, and intercepting information passed over such systems is discussed. To obtain the statistical data required on the fraction of meteor trails that scatter energy to an intercept location, and the fraction of transmitted messages that can be intercepted, a computation program is formulated. For a specified distribution of meteor sources, the fraction of the meteor trails that will scatter a signal to any point in a large area about the transmitter, and the fraction of message fragments received that can be intercepted at any point in the region about a receiver location, can be readily found. The computed results for a uniform distribution of meteor sources across the sky are displayed graphically. An example is worked out showing that the data can be used to estimate the performance of a meteor-scatter communications link. Sample computations on the probability of detecting the operation of a meteor-burst communications system are carried out. Finding the locations of transmitters using meteor-scatter signals, recognition of operating characteristics, and the interception of information passed over such links are also discussed. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 01, 1962
- Accession Number
- AD0282334
Entities
People
- U.r. Embry
Organizations
- Rome Laboratory