Signal strength variations at 2 GHz for three sea paths in the British Channel Islands: Detailed discussion and propagation modeling

Signal strength measurements at 2 GHz have recently been made on three over-sea paths in the British Channel Islands. This paper focuses on explaining the propagation characteristics during periods of normal reception and periods of enhanced signal strength with particular emphasis on a 48.5 km transhorizon path between Jersey and Alderney. Evaporation ducting and diffraction appear to be the dominant propagation mechanisms at most times. The influence of the evaporation duct during periods of normal propagation has been confirmed by modeling the over-sea propagation conditions using Paulus-Jeske evaporation duct refractivity profiles as input to the parabolic equation method. During periods of enhanced propagation, which occur approximately 8% of the time on the longest path (48.5 km), the presence of additional higher-altitude ducting/super-refractive structures has been verified and their influence has been modeled with reasonable success.