Theoretical Analysis of Bit Error Rate for Satellite Communications in Ka-Band Under Atmospheric Turbulence Given by Kolmogorov Model

Abstract

We study the influence of atmospheric turbulence on satellite communications by the theoretical analysis of propagation characteristics of electromagnetic waves through inhomogeneous random media. The analysis is done by using the moment of wave fields given on the basis of a multiple scattering method. We analyze the bit error rate (BER) using the average received intensity or power for the Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO) satellite communications in Ka-band at low elevation angles under atmospheric turbulence whose statistical characteristics are given by the Kolmogorov model. From the analysis, the degradation in BER for the uplink is found to be caused by the decrease in the average received intensity due to spot dancing and wave form distortion of wave beams; on the other hand, for the downlink, the degradation in BER is caused by the decrease in the spatial coherence of received waves.