Mitigation of rain and ice particle cross polarization at RF for dual circularly polarized waves

For millimeter-wave satellite-to-ground links encountering moderate rain and ice particles, RF mitigation of atmospheric cross-polarization effects on circularly polarized (CP) waves can be achieved by inserting a passive fixed phase delay in the vertical component of the received electric field introduced prior to an orthomode transducer (OMT) in the receiver. This passive phase shifter and the OMT can be combined into a single microwave structure and its performance is discussed.