A Strong-Scatter Theory of Ionospheric Scintillations for Two-Component Power Law Irregularity Spectra

for Two-Component Power Law Irregularity Spectra Charles S. Carrano, Charles L. Rino Institute for Scientific Research Boston College ABSTRACT We extend the phase screen power law theory for ionospheric scintillation to account for the case where the refractive index irregularities follow a two-component power law spectrum. The twocomponent model includes, as special cases, an unmodified power law and a modified power law with an outer scale or inner scale. As such, it provides a useful framework for investigating the effects of a spectral break on the scintillation statistics. Using this spectral model, we solve the 4 moment equation governing the intensity fluctuations for the case of two-dimensional field-aligned ionospheric irregularities. A specific normalization is invoked to exploit the self-similar properties of the problem and achieve a universal scaling, such that different combinations of perturbation strength, propagation distance, and frequency produce exactly the same results. The numerical algorithm is novel in that it employs specialized quadrature algorithms and a Python library for arbitrary-precision floating-point arithmetic (mpmath). These advancements enable simulation of significantly stronger scattering conditions than previously possible, enabling us to validate new theoretical predictions for the behavior of the scintillation index and intensity correlation length under strong scatter conditions.