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Two Years of Atmospheric Measurements in Edinburgh, ScotlandSince March of 2016, NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC) and Heriot Watt University (HWU) have jointly operated an atmospheric propagation terminal to measure and characterize propagation phenomena near 40 GHz at the HWU campus in Edinburgh, Scotland within the framework of the Alphasat experiment. The system was also recently upgraded in June 2018 to take simultaneous measurements near 20 GHz. The Q-band system utilizes a novel design which combines a beacon receiver and digital radiometer into the same RF front-end and observes the 39.402 GHz beacon of the European Space Agency's Alphasat Aldo Paraboni TDP#5 experiment. Atmospheric measurements can thusly be assessed to characterize link performance. The objective in orchestrating these types of measurements is to improve statistical understanding of the atmosphere at these frequencies of interest, as well as to contribute to the development and improvement of International Telecommunications Union (ITU) models for prediction of communications systems performance within the Q-band. Herein, we provide an overview of the system design, as well as an analysis of the first two years of data collected in Edinburgh, including attenuation, fade duration, and fade slope.
Document ID
20190001547
Acquisition Source
Glenn Research Center
Document Type
Presentation
Authors
Zemba, Michael
(NASA Glenn Research Center Cleveland, OH, United States)
Nessel, James
(NASA Glenn Research Center Cleveland, OH, United States)
Sia, Nicholas
(NASA Glenn Research Center Cleveland, OH, United States)
Goussetis, George
(Heriot-Watt Univ. Edinburgh, United Kingdom)
Date Acquired
March 14, 2019
Publication Date
October 18, 2018
Subject Category
Space Communications, Spacecraft Communications, Command And Tracking
Report/Patent Number
GRC-E-DAA-TN62225
Meeting Information
Meeting: International Communications Satellite Systems Conference (ICSSC)
Location: Niagara Falls
Country: Canada
Start Date: October 15, 2018
End Date: October 18, 2018
Sponsors: Agenzia Spaziale Italiana (ASI)
Funding Number(s)
WBS: WBS 405034.04.02.01.01
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Public Use Permitted.
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