Multipoint radio systems: planning tools using terrain data bases derived from satellite remote sensing

Describes how the satellite derived terrain data bases can be used as a planning aid in the development of a multipoint radio system and to analyse the feasibility of such data. The main advantages of satellite derived terrain data are their availability in a relatively short period of time and the spatial resolution (up to 10 m) which is suitable to represent urban areas. The analysis of the radio coverage of a nodal station (NS) has been carried out in terms of the percentage of visibility within a given area (1×1 km). Each NS is characterized by a distribution of this visibility estimator computed for the whole coverage region. It is responsibility of the system designer the choice of the most appropriate parameter of the statistical distribution (average percentage visibility, minimum value, etc.) for the evaluation of the coverage quality