Scattering mechanism of aircraft wake vortices generated in clear air

In order to provide help to the development of radar detection technology on wake vortices, the scattering mechanism of wake vortices is studied. The dielectric constant of wake vortices is divided into two terms regarding the density variation and water vapor variation, respectively. The effects of these two variations on the RCS of wake vortices are investigated to find the scattering mechanism. Research findings show that in the low frequency band, the density variation is the dominant factor to the total RCS of wake vortex; while in the high frequency band, the dominant factor turns to be the water vapor variation.