Accurate and Efficient Full-Wave Electromagnetic Analysis of Scattering from Hailstones

Numerically rigorous full-wave electromagnetic analysis of scattering from hailstones based primarily on the method of moments is presented. The analysis employs generalized curved hexahedral volume and surface elements of arbitrary geometrical-mapping orders, current polynomial vector basis functions of arbitrarily high expansion orders, and higher order modeling of inhomogeneous lossy dielectric materials. The method can accurately and efficiently model and analyze scattering from dry, wet, and melting hailstones of various realistic shapes and material compositions, including layered models and continuous variations of the dielectric permittivity.