A terrestrial optical scatter communications model

The authors describe a computer model for predicting the total propagation loss and bit-error rate that occurs over a terrestrial forward optical-scatter communications channel. They describe the model in detail and present predictions of the communications performance over a terrestrial optical-scatter channel. These results indicate that data rates as high as 2400 b/s can be supported over paths up to 400 km in length under clear conditions. These results show that optical scatter may have important military applications