Incoherent scattering is a type of scattering phenomenon in physics, which may involve various particles, such as neutrons or photons.
One application is a ground-based technique for studying the Earth's ionosphere. A radar beam scattering off electrons in the ionospheric plasma creates an incoherent scatter echo. The ionospheric electrons are controlled by the much slower and massive positive ions - electron density fluctuations relate to ion temperature, mass distribution, and motion. The incoherent scatter signal allows measurement of electron density, ion temperature and electron temperatures, ion composition and plasma velocity.