Main page The majority of ionospheric scatter takes place as a result of anomalies in the propagating layer of the ionosphere that is being used for a particular path. Patches of intense ionisation, or local variations in height, can cause abnormal refraction to take place. These lead to differences in the angles of incidence and refraction that are supported and the strength of signal that is received.
There are a variety of scatter modes including: back and side scatter; tropospheric scatter; trans-equatorial scatter.
Back and side scatter
These types of scatter are rare and involve deliberate aiming of high gain, high power signals at regions of the ionosphere that scatter the signal. Propagation paths are supported that otherwise be impossible.