Particle-in-cell simulation of the incoherent scatter radar spectrum

A particle-in-cell (PIC) approach is presented and utilized to simulate incoherent scatter radar (ISR) spectra. In particular, a two-dimensional simulation is performed of a small, unmagnetized, F region plasma volume in thermodynamic equilibrium. The simulation results are compared to the analytical ISR spectra obtained for a plasma in thermodynamic equilibrium, and they are shown to be in agreement. Even though some plasma parameters have to be modified to limit the computational cost, the physical conclusions obtained by simulation can remain unaltered. The PIC approach can be extended to study distorted ISR spectra to obtain insights into the underlying physical phenomena. This simulation also provides a means for studying the time evolution of spectral distortions, which could enable the development of procedures for estimating plasma parameters from distorted spectra.