Climatic radiowave propagation models for the design of satellite communication systems

The quality of satellite communication systems can be seriously affected by variable climatic phenomena such as rain and turbulence. For the design of communication systems with a required availability, statistical knowledge of climatic propagation effects is essential. In this thesis three climatic propagation effects are studied: • the fade slope (rate of change) of attenuation due to rain; • scintillation due to tropospheric turbulence; • depolarisation due to rain and ice crystals. For the study, experimental satellite signal measurements are analysed, received from the satellite Olympus at Eindhoven University of Technology and Helsinki University of Technology. The statistical behaviour of the propagation effects is studied in relation with the theoretical background. The results obtained are compared with results from many other measurement sites. This way, relations with link parameters (among which the frequency) and with meteorological parameters are studied. New prediction models for the propagation effects are developed, as well as improvements to existing models. The main conclusions obtained are the following: The rain fade slope is found to have, conditional for a rain attenuation level, a symmetrical distribution. The standard deviation of this distribution is proportional with attenuation, independent of frequency, and dependent on filter bandwidth. It is likely to depend on elevation angle and on the relative contribution of different rain types. The signal level due to tropospheric scintillation is found to have an asymmetrical distribution; the asymmetry increases with scintillation intensity. The frequency dependence of scintillation shows strong variability between different measurement sites; several possible explanations for this observation are given. For global long-term prediction of scintillation, current models use only the wet term of refractivity as a meteorological input, however it is found that the water content of heavy clouds is necessary as an additional meteorological input parameter. An improved prediction model of tropospheric scintillation is presented, based on the conclusions found. The relation between depolarisation and attenuation due to rain is studied using measurements from many different sites; the different dependencies of this relation on link parameters are empirically quantified and the model for this relation is updated. For the case of depolarisation caused by simultaneous rain and ice, a calculation method is developed to separate the contributions of both partial media. The conclusions obtained and the new prediction models developed in this thesis can improve the prediction of propagation effects, which is essential for satellite communication system design in general and for adaptive link control systems in particular.

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