Use of dispersive effects for density profile reconstruction from pulse radar reflectometry measurements alone

Reflectometry deduces the density profiles from the time of flight measurements for different frequencies of the probing wave. Pulse radar reflectometry allows the time of flight measurements at only a few discrete frequencies (typically 10 frequencies), which can lead to bad profile reconstruction. In order to improve the profile determination, it is proposed to use a dispersive effect of higher order, namely the pulse broadening. It is shown that usual methods of profile reconstruction are then improved. Particular attention is paid to the initialization problem, which is crucial in O-mode reflectometry. Initialization methods that use only reflectometry measurements have been developed. The sensitivity of each method to the measurement errors is discussed. Errors due to density fluctuations have been investigated numerically. For density fluctuations with moderate amplitude, the time of flight can be significantly modified whereas the pulse broadening is mostly unchanged. It is shown that, even with significant errors (10% on the time of flight, up to 40% on the pulse broadening) the profile initialization can be improved by using both time of flight and optimal length. The density profile is then reconstructed with an acceptable accuracy.