Simultaneous analysis of downlink beacon dynamics and skybrightness temperature. Part II. Extraction of amplitude scintillations

This paper addresses the long-standing problem of separating the tropospheric amplitude scintillations from the dominant trend of atmospheric attenuation in a satellite downlink. Following extensive theoretical and experimental work, it is shown how the use of a radiometer coaxial with the communications beacon receiver constitutes an excellent tool for an optimum separation regardless of the meteorological conditions along the propagation path and avoids the use of the long-traditional high-pass filter approach. The experimental and theoretical work has revealed that the angular resolution of the radiometer together with the dynamics of rain attenuation and tropospheric scintillations determine the success of the extraction. This is because fast fadings require large radiometer antennas in order to resolve the sky temperature fluctuations. The dynamic behavior of rain attenuation has been reanalyzed and adapted for this study with special focus on the Maseng-Bakken (MB) model and the impact of the slant path on attenuation dynamics. The importance of the antenna pattern in the time response of the radiometer is studied in detail and permits to derive the maximum Fourier component observable for a given antenna size. The theoretical work has been verified by means of extensive experimental results obtained using a dual radiometer system and a beacon receiver tracking the ITALSAT 39.5 GHz F40 beacon. Finally, because of its importance and direct relevance to future communication systems benefiting from fade countermeasure strategies, the minimum size of the radiometer antenna for a successful extraction of amplitude scintillations is determined as a function of the elevation angle and carrier frequency     

ACTS propagation experiment: experiment design, calibration, anddata preparation and archival

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration Advanced Communications Technology Satellite (ACTS) propagation experiment was designed to obtain slant-path attenuation statistics for locations within the United States and Canada for use in the design of low-margin Ka-band satellite communication systems. Experimenters at seven different locations have collected propagation data for move than two years. The propagation terminals used for the experiment were identical. A single preprocessing program was used by the experimenters to provide for automatic calibration, generation of attenuation histograms, and data archival. In this paper, the calibration procedures are described mid estimates given for measurement accuracy. ACTS provided beacons at 20.2 and 27.5 GHz for use in making attenuation measurements. In addition to the beacon receivers, each ACTS propagation terminal has two total power radiometers with center frequencies at the beacon frequencies. The radiometers are used to establish the beacon signal reference levels needed for calculating beacon attenuation values. For the combined radiometer and beacon measurement system, the attenuation measurement error was less than a maximum of 1.0 dB and was generally less than 0.3 dB. The dynamic range for attenuation measurement varied from site to site depending on location relative to the peak of the satellite beacon antenna pattern. For locations within the continental United States, the dynamic range was better than 20 dB     

Satellite site diversity: Results of a radiometer experiment at 13 and 18 GHz

Joint attenuation statistics for a model site-diversity satellite system which would operate at 18 and 30 GHz were gathered in a radiometer experiment conducted at sites near Atlanta, GA, and Denver, CO. The receiver is of the classic Dicke radiometer type, monitoring sky-noise power at 13.6 and 17.8 GHz. Scaling provides the means to derive 30 GHz performance. The experiment, which commenced in May 1973, provides an expedient means of acquiring essential rain attenuation statistics without the use of active signal sources, such as a satellite beacon. This article describes the experiment and presents the results, including representative data samples from the 1½A year measurement period. Based on these measurements, a model satellite system operating during, the measuring period in Atlanta, at 18 and 30 GHz with 8 and 18 dB fade margins, respectively, would require 14-mi site diversity to insure no more than 0.005 percent propagation outage. During the same time period, site diversity was found unnecessary to satisfy this objective with operation in Denver.     

Fade and non-fade duration statistics for Earth-space satellitelink in Ku-band

The choice of modulation and forward error correction coding for satellite communications depends on fade dynamics and long-term fade occurrence statistics. An investigation is presented of the fade duration and inter-fade duration measured with a dual slope Ku-band radiometer as well as a Ku-band INTELSAT VI beacon receiver in Singapore which has an equatorial climate. A comparison of the results from both the measurements is presented. The normalised fade duration obtained follows a lognormal distribution with median of 1.3 and a standard deviation of 2     

Performance characteristics of a 300-GHz radiometer and some atmospheric attenuation measurements

A 300-GHz Dicke-type superheterodyne radiometer receiver was used for measurements of atmospheric attenuation of electromagnetic waves over an open path at frequencies near 300 GHz. The average measured values of horizontal attenuation at 304 GHz and 316 GHz, presumably due to atmospheric water vapor absorption, were, respectively, 3.35 dB/km and 5.55 dB/km per g/m³of water vapor density. Absorption variations at 304 GHz with respect to water vapor density were shown in the measured results. The variation of the effective zenith sky temperature with respect to atmospheric water vapor density was also determined. The minimum detectable temperature difference(Delta T)_{min}, was obtained by measuring the rms value of noise in the receiver output. The best value achieved was3.16degK. Based on this result, the receiver noise figure and the mixer conversion loss were determined indirectly. The results were 31.4 dB and 22.9 dB, respectively. A blackbody radiation source served to calibrate the radiometer.     

Simultaneous analysis of downlink beacon dynamics and skybrightness temperature. Part I. Remote sensing of a slant path

This paper investigates the remote sensing of height and displacement velocity of turbulent clouds, composed mainly of liquid water, using a combination of simultaneous radiometric and geostationary satellite beacon measurements. Because a radiometer integrates the sky brightness temperature distribution observed within the solid angle subtended by the antenna beamwidth, the paper shows how this process can be modeled as a low-pass filter using the small angle approximation and the frozen-in hypothesis. The 3-dB cutoff frequency of that filter is used in conjunction with the Fresnel frequency of the amplitude scintillations power spectrum to derive the cross-path wind speed and the height of the turbulent layer/cloud. In order to quantify the 3-dB cutoff frequency of the filter-radiometer, a dual aperture radiometer was constructed and was used in conjunction with a ground station receiver monitoring the 39.5-GHz beacon transmissions of ITALSAT F1 and measuring amplitude scintillations. The experimental results derived on cloud heights are then compared with the vertical profiles obtained by a 94-GHz radar, indicating agreement except in those cases where the thickness of the cloud structure becomes important. This aspect is then discussed in the paper and a radiometric definition is given for the cloud height. Finally, the important aspect of instrumentation is described including the effect of the radiation pattern of a radiometer antenna upon the cross correlation and cross spectrum between two coaxial measured antenna temperatures     

Twelve years of rain attenuation statistics of Earth–space propagation experiment at Ka band in Toulouse

Since 2009, ONERA has been running Ka band propagation experiments in Toulouse (France, latitude 43.57°N, longitude 1.47°E). A rain gauge was also deployed on site to collect rainfall rate measurements concurrently to beacon data. Since April 2011, the beacon receiver has been recording the 20.2 GHz (vertical polarisation) Astra 3B beacon signal along a slant path of 35.1° of elevation angle. All years of the experiment had excellent data availability, hence giving 12 years of data at Ka band. First, the propagation experiment and the data processing methodology are described. Second, a statistical analysis of rain attenuation and rainfall rate is conducted. Comparisons are then performed with the prediction methods of Recommendations ITU-R P.837-7 (rainfall rate), P.618-13 (rain attenuation) and P.678-3 (variability of propagation phenomena).     

Time diversity evaluation for attenuation mitigation method using attenuation data in Thailand and Japan

In order to support future satellite broadcasting and communication in the Ka band and above, the time diversity method provides a novel attenuation mitigation technique for maintaining satellite service availability at levels between 99.9 and 99.99%. In this paper, the time diversity method is analyzed using various time delays from between 1 min and 1 h in an effort to mitigate convective rain attenuation by using various beacon signal transmission delays. For comparison purposes, receiver beacon data from Japan and Thailand are presented to highlight tropical and non‐tropical zone regional differences, and the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) R P.618‐12 standard is used for scaling up the Thaicom beacon frequencies from 12.57 and 12.59 GHz in the Ku band to 19.45 GHz, which is the Ka band frequency used by Japan's communication satellite (CS) beacon. We found that the time diversity method is very useful for mitigating the effects of rain attenuation. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Radiometric measurement of atmospheric absorption at 600 Gc/s

Atmospheric absorption in the 600-Gc/s region was measured throughout the actual atmosphere by means of a DICKE-type superheterodyne radiometer receiver using second harmonic mixing. The average measured value of horizontal attenuation was approximately 34 dB/km/g/m³. The variation of water vapor absorption with respect to water vapor density was also indicated in the measured results. The minimum detectable temperature difference (ΔT)MINwas obtained by calculating the rms value of output deflection and the use of the calibration curve for the radiometer. The best value achieved was 5.2°K. From this result, the radiometer receiver noise figure and the mixer conversion loss were able to be determined indirectly. The results were 33.2 dB and 26.4 dB, respectively. A thermal calibrator was used to adjust and calibrate the radiometer, and as a source of radiation for the measurement program.     

Comments on "Effect of wet antenna attenuation on propagation data statistics"

For original paper by Kharadly and Ross, see IEEE Trans. Antennas Propag., vol.49, p.1183-91 (2001). They presented two ad hoc corrections for the effects of water on the receiver antenna for Ka-band beacon attenuation measurements made at the University of British Columbia (UBC), Vancouver, British Columbia. While it is widely recognized that the attenuation statistics measured with the ACTS beacons require correction Crane and Rogers suggest that the corrections proposed in that paper appear to be based on unfounded assumptions. In a reply Kharadly and Ross address the comments made.     

A prediction model that combines rain attenuation and otherpropagation impairments along Earth-satellite paths

The rapid growth of satellite services using higher frequency bands such as the Ka-band has highlighted a need for estimating the combined effect of different propagation impairments. Many projected Ka-band services will use very small terminals and, for some, rain effects may only form a relatively small part of the total propagation link margin. It is therefore necessary to identify and predict the overall impact of every significant attenuating effect along any given path. A procedure for predicting the combined effect of rain attenuation and several other propagation impairments (at frequencies between 4 and 35 GHz) along Earth-satellite paths is presented. Where an accurate model exist for some phenomena, these have been incorporated into the prediction procedure. New models were developed, however, for rain attenuation, cloud attenuation, and low-angle fading to provide more overall accuracy, particularly at very low elevation angles (<10°). In the absence of a detailed knowledge of the occurrence probabilities of different impairments, an empirical approach is taken in estimating their combined effects. An evaluation of the procedure is made using slant-path attenuation data that have been collected with simultaneous beacon and radiometer measurements which allow a near complete account of different impairments. Results indicate that the rain attenuation element of the model provides the best average accuracy globally between 10 and 30 GHz and that the combined procedure gives prediction accuracies comparable to uncertainties associated with the year-to-year variability of path attenuation     

Melting layer attenuation at 28.6 GHz from simultaneous comstar beacon and polarisation diversity radar data

Attenuation data at 28.6 GHz obtained from measurements of the Comstar beacon show that, for moderate rain, slant path attenuation may significantly exceed that calculated from simultaneous radar reflectivity measurements. Polarisation diversity radar data were used for positive identification of the rain and the melting layer, and for estimating the rain attenuation along the path. These results indicate that the melting layer attenuation is significant.     

30μm Heterodyne receiver

Advantages and constraints of remote measurements using heterodyne spectroscopy near 30 μm are discussed. The state of the art of wideband HgCdTe photomixers and PbSnSe diode laser local oscillators being developed for far infrared heterodyne receivers is described. The first compact 30 μm heterodyne radiometer was built and initial results at 28 μm show about 2% mixer efficiency for a 500 MHz bandwidth receiver. Factors limiting receiver performance are discussed, along with the projected sensitivity of new interdigitated-electrode HgCdTe photoconductor mixers being developed for operation up to 200 μm.     

Predictive methods for rain attenuation using radar and in-situ measurements tested against the 28-GHz Comstar beacon signal

A program to measure the rain attenuation of the Comstar beacon signal at 28.56 GHz has been in continuous operation since March of 1977 at Wallops Island, VA. During the summer of 1977 simultaneous radar and disdrometer measurements at the site were also made and used for predicting path attenuation. The best-fit values ofaandbof the relationk = aZ^{b}were deduced for each rain period from the raindrop size measurements, wherekis the attenuation coefficient [dB/km] andZis the reflectivity factor [mm⁶/m³]. The measuredk-Zrelations and the simultaneous radar reflectivity measurements along the beacon path were injected into a computer program for estimating the path attenuation. Predicted attenuations, when compared with the directly measured ones, show generally good correlation on a case-by-case basis and very good agreement statistically after an empirical calibration adjustment is applied to the radar data. A method was also tested for predicting fade statistics at another frequency (e.g., 19 GHz) using simultaneous rain rate and fade distributions (28 GHz) in conjunction with disdrometer data. The predicted distributions showed good agreement with radar-predicted levels. The results demonstrate the utility of using radar in conjunction with disdrometer and rain gauge measurements for predicting fade events, long-term fade distributions, and establishing predictive criteria associated with earth-satellite telecommunications.     

Precipitation attenuation studies based on measurements of ATS-6 20/30-GHz beacon signals at Clarksburg, MD

COMSAT Laboratories participated in the millimeter wavelength propagation experiment under NASA contract NAS5- 20740, performing measurements of the 20/30-GHz ATS-6 satellite beacon signals and auxiliary measurements such as radiometric sky temperature and minute precipitation at Clarksburg, MD. These measurements were intended to broaden the data base required to advance the understanding of the propagation characteristics of the earth-satellite path at frequencies over 10 GHz. A correlation is established between direct measurement of attenuation of the signal radiated from the satellite and the indirect measurement of attenuation by auxiliary ground-based equipment. The indirectly derived statistics agreed reasonably well or can be reconciled with earlier published results and may therefore be used as a basis for estimating long-term cumulative attenuation statistics.     

Choice of standard medium temperature for tropical and equatorialclimates: Comparison between radiometric and satellite beaconattenuation data on two 12 GHz links in Brazil

Results are presented for two years of satellite beacon and radiometric attenuation measurements on two 12 GHz Earth-space links located in Rio de Janeiro, south-eastern Brazil and Belem, northern Brazil. Results suggest that the choice of 285 K for the standard medium temperature, to be used in the calculation of attenuation from radiometric measurements of sky temperature, may underestimate the conditions for tropical and equatorial environments     

A Receiver in a Millimeter Wave Radiometer for Atmosphere Remote Sensing

A millimeter wave radiometer system with high resolution is described in this paper, which was used for remote sensing of integrated water vapor and integrated liquid water in the troposphere. A novel receiver technique was adopted in the radiometer system to deracinate an impact of the receiver gain shift on its precision and improve its performance. Measured results show that this radiometer system has enough stability in long time measurement and capability to measure atmospheric brightness temperature.     

A New Microwave Radiometer Simultaneously Receiving Dual-Polarized Radiation

A new cost-effective microwave radiometer has been designed for simultaneously receiving both vertically and horizontally polarized thermal radiation, which are important signals for improving the capability of passive remote observations of geophysical phenomena. It is basically a Dicke-switched superheterodyne receiver whose both polarization channels share a single set of a reference noise source, a low-noise microwave amplifier, and a mixer with a local oscillator by adopting a scheme that both channels are slightly spaced in receiving frequency. A 15-GHz band radiometer has been built and tested for the verification of this scheme.     

New radar studies of slant-path attenuation due to rain

Approximately 40 h of data from the summer of 1976 were employed in a comparison of radar and radiometer estimates of slant-path attenuation due to rain. McGill Radar Weather Observatory is situated 20 km west of Montreal; the radiometers, separated by 18 km at two sites located about 90 km northwest of the radar, had fixed antennas pointed approximately southeast at an elevation of 18.5 deg. Values of radar reflectivity along the two radiometer paths were used to calculate the slant-path attenuation at 13 GHz as a function of time with a 1 min resolution for direct comparison with the radiometer measurements. It was found that the cumulative distribution of attenuation inferred by radar from each site could be made to agree satisfactorily with the radiometer distribution assuming that rain was present everywhere along the path with a Marshall-Palmer distribution and applying a 1 dB correction to the independently-determined radar calibration. This agreement, close to within a fraction of a decibel, gives confidence to the use of radar records in compiling attenuation statistics. An example is presented of a new application of such records, namely the assessment of rain-induced interference over adjacent earth-space paths.