Ka-band site diversity research in a subtropical region utilizing the ACTS satellite

In September 1993, NASA launched the Advanced Communication Technology Satellite (ACTS) to assist the United States in being it leader in global telecommunications. The University of South Florida (USF) was brought into this project with the task of illustrating the effect of weather events on signal propagation. With the cooperation of E-Systems, another experiment has begun, involving signal improvement employing multiple sites. Both USF and E-Systems receive a 20 GHz beacon signal. During rain storms, when degradation of the signal occurs at one location, the other site normally has a clear path for signal reception. As this weather pattern of intense localized rain cells is common for certain regions, such as in tropical and equatorial locations, there is industrial interest in the benefits of using site diversity techniques. Due to the lifetime of satellites, long duration studies generally are not available. To enable refinement of existing regional site diversity models, current data must be collected, which is the motivation behind this research.