A custom-design atmospheric channel emulator for the performance evaluation of free space optical communication systems

In this paper, we present our custom design atmospheric channel emulator for free space optical (FSO) system evaluations in a controlled environment. Our emulator is in the form of an atmospheric chamber with dimensions of 60 cm × 40 cm × 300 cm. It is equipped with adjustable heaters, coolers and fans to create the turbulence. It also houses a fog generator and droplet watering system to generate different weather conditions. Using this custom-design emulator, we experimentally investigate the performance of FSO links at different wavelengths in fog conditions.