Spatial Autocovariances of Scattering Parameters Measured in a Lossy Reverberation Chamber

We derive a statistical model for the spatial autocovariance of two-port scattering parameters measured in a high-loss reverberation chamber for single-mode antennas. The theoretical model accounts for first-order antenna-antenna and antenna- environment interactions arising from scattering off the measurement antennas. The model is shown to provide a good description of the empirical spatial autocovariances calculated from measurements of scattering parameters in a reverberation chamber for different loading configurations. This provides new insight into the complex antenna-antenna and antenna-environment interactions that occur in reverberation chamber measurements. Additional applications include reducing the correlation between reverberation chamber measurements obtained with position stirring and measuring the orientation-averaged total scattering cross section of arbitrary structures.