Characterization of the electromagnetic environment in aircraft cavities excited by internal and external sources

In order to design, assess, and certify the performance of avionics systems, among other parameters, one must be able to characterize the radiative environment in which the system will operate. The intrinsic variability of the problem of characterizing the electromagnetic environment in aircraft cavities suggests the desirability of an approach which could statistically bound the environment in terms of a small number of quantifiable parameters. Within the past few years both theory and experimental data have become available which suggests that for some aspects of the problem, a statistical bounding technique is feasible. The technique applies to complex, multi-moded cavities. This paper reviews pertinent aspects of the statistical theory and its predictions concerning aircraft cavity environments. The paper presents cavity electromagnetic environment data from two large transport and two commuter aircraft. Data from both external and internal emitters are presented.