Concurrent Ku-band satellite beacon measurements along adjacent low-elevation angle paths under two configurations

Low elevation angle Ku-band satellite propagation experiments have shown tropospheric scintillations to be system performance limiting. At elevation angles less than 5 degrees scintillations can also limit system availability. In addition an antenna height diversity experiment demonstrated a lack of correlation between scintillations on closely spaced low elevation slant paths. This lack of correlation has significant interference implications for adjacent satellites if uplink power control (ULPC) is employed to counter scintillation effects on the uplink. The experimental study investigated (i) the potential for mutual interference between adjacent low elevation satellites due to scintillation and (ii) the potential advantage of horizontal antenna diversity in alleviating system scintillation degradations.