VAMPIRA - RF Propagation Measurement and Model Validation

The propagation conditions of radar (RF) and infrared (IR) radiation in the atmosphere are determined by meteorological parameters including aerosols, gas concentrations and their gradients, and turbulence. To investigate the so-called RF-IR synergism (the simultaneous existence of RF and IR sub- and superrefractive conditions) NATO AC/323 SET0656/RTG32 organised the VAMPIRA trial with simultaneous measurements on meteo, RF and IR propagation. This paper describes the results from the TNO RF propagation measurements over an 8.2 km path paying special attention to the refractive conditions during the trial and the effects on the propagation at the 6 frequencies. For selected sample cases model predictions are compared with the measured results. The comparison shows that the computed 1-way propagation factors at 6 frequencies are in good to very good agreement with the measured values