Use of microwave profiler and Ka/Q-band ground propagation terminal for alphasat ALDO TDP5 propagation experiment - first year of operation

In order to study propagation effects for future satellite communication frequencies, the Alphasat Aldo Paraboni (TDP 5) payload includes two beacon transmitters at Ka-band (19.701 GHz) and Q-band (39.402 GHz). Under ESA contract a Ground Propagation Terminal was developed to measure the co-and cross polar signals of both frequencies with the same antenna. The measurement site hosts ancillary equipment to measure the weather and atmospheric situation, including an Atmospheric Propagation and Profiling System (ATPROP): a highly stable microwave radiometer system to assess radio propagation in the spectral range from 15 to 90 GHz. This paper reports on the brightness temperature and propagation measurements carried out in Graz (Austria) since November 2013, the data validation of the instruments, the preprocessing and statistical analysis of the measurements, and their comparison with the existing ITU-R propagation models.